TheAmerican Fly Fisher - AMFF

FALL 2005 VOLUME 31 NUMBER 4

American

Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing

The

Fly Fisher

WHEN WE LAST LEFT OUR HEROES, in the summer issue,they were busily preparing for the museum’s grandopening, which, from all accounts, went swimmingly,

thank you. No animals were harmed in the staging of this event(unless you count those served, of course), and it wouldappear that no person was physically hurt either, although howmany feathers were ruffled under the stress of preparation Icannot say. I am but a part-time editor looking in from theoutside, but I can certainly attest to the fact that the full-timestaff spent more than full time pulling this event together.They are to be congratulated, admired, and perhaps givensmall statues at an awards ceremony.

The thing is, as someone who is not full time, I could bothattend the event and have a little fun. More than a little fun.Meeting trustees, authors, and friends of the museum can bethrilling business. I feel, as Noel Coward would put it, that “I’vebeen to a marvellous party.” Now, perhaps this party was not sowild as the one described in the poem by that title, but imag-ine, if you will, if you are lucky enough to know any of them,the characters seated at my dinner table: Stan Bogdan, Jim andPat Hardman, Fred Kretchman, Sam Urtz, Tim Achor-Hoch,and Bill McMaster. You be the judge of how wild it could havegotten. I couldn’t have liked it more.

We wish all of you could have been there. Luckily, we hadace photographer Jim Hardman, our beloved trustee and vol-unteer, on the job. I don’t know how we ever got along with-out him. We’ve included lots of photos of the big weekend,with our main coverage beginning on page 18. We’re alsopleased to share a bit of the grand evening’s ceremonies withyou: the poems read by Trustee Bill Herrick (page 24) and thekeynote address by Trustee Ernest Schwiebert (page 22). It wasa good night.

And how better to compliment an issue highlighting ourgrand opening than by including a story about a great figure in

the museum’s history? Jerry Karaska, himself one of the finestvolunteers this museum has ever had, began working on anoral history of Dick Finlay, his life, and his involvement in themuseum’s beginnings. He interviewed Dick back in October2001 and offers us a profile of someone who was there when itall began, whose dedication shaped our existence. “Fly Fishing,Skiing, Orvis, and the Museum: Dick Finlay, the FirstVolunteer” begins on page 14.

As the days grow crisp and the World Series nears, we’repleased to offer you the story of a friendship based on baseballand fishing: that of Red Sox legends Bobby Doerr and TedWilliams. John Feldenzer, the owner of a Paul Young BobbyDoerr model bamboo fly rod, decided to research that rod’s his-tory. In the process, he befriended Doerr and began work on anarticle about Doerr and Williams, starting with their days asSan Diego Padres teammates. The two were avid fishermenand fishing buddies, and both subsequently had professionalrelationships with the bamboo rodmaker Paul H. Young.Young built rods for Doerr and Williams, then briefly market-ed models that bore the players’ names. Feldenzer follows thehistory of the famous friendship, of the various business rela-tionships, and of the rods that Young made. “Of Baseball andBamboo: Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams, and the Paul H. YoungRod Company” begins on page 2.

For news beyond the grand opening, check out our regularMuseum News section on page 25. Oh, and there’s some reallybig news: we have a new director. For that important story,please see the letter from President David Walsh on the insideback cover.

KATHLEEN ACHOREDITOR

A Marvellous Party

Trustee Pam Bates and journal editorKathleen Achor catch up during dinner

on Saturday evening.

Tim Achor-Hoch

Executive DirectorCollections Manager

Director of EventsAdministration & Membership

Art Director

William C. Bullock IIIYoshi AkiyamaLori PinkowskiRebecca NawrathSara Wilcox

Of Baseball and Bamboo: Bobby Doerr,Ted Williams, and the Paul H. Young Rod Company . . . . 2

John A. Feldenzer

Fly Fishing, Skiing, Orvis, and the Museum:Dick Finlay, the First Volunteer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Gerald Karaska

A Grand Day Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Sara Wilcox

Remarks on the Opening ofthe American Museum of Fly Fishing,11 June 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Ernest Schwiebert

Poems Read on the Occasion of the Opening ofthe American Museum of Fly Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

William F. Herrick

Museum News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Notes and Comment:Washington Irving and the False Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Gordon M. Wickstrom

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

ON THE COVER: Left to right: Paul H. Young, Martha Marie Young, guideLarry Lucas, and Bobby Doerr on a steelhead fishing trip, Rogue River, late1951. Photo courtesy of Bob Doerr.

F A L L 2 0 0 5 V O L U M E 3 1 N U M B E R 4

the American Museum of Fly FishingJournal of

The American Fly Fisher (ISSN 0884-3562) is published

four times a year by the Museum at P.O. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254.

Publication dates are winter, spring, summer, and fall. Membership dues include the cost of the

journal ($15) and are tax deductible as provided for by law. Membership rates are listed in the back of each issue.

All letters, manuscripts, photographs, and materials intended for publication in the journal should be sent to

the Museum. The Museum and journal are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, drawings, photographic

material, or memorabilia. The Museum cannot accept responsibility for statements and interpretations that are

wholly the author’s. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned unless postage is provided. Contributions to The

American Fly Fisher are to be considered gratuitous and the property of the Museum unless otherwise requested

by the contributor. Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Historical Abstracts and America:

History and Life. Copyright © 2005, the American Museum of Fly Fishing, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Original

material appearing may not be reprinted without prior permission. Periodical postage paid at

Manchester, Vermont 05254 and additional offices (USPS 057410). The American Fly Fisher (ISSN 0884-3562)

EMAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: www.amff.com

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The American Fly Fisher, P.O. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254.

THE AMERICAN MUSEUMOF FLY FISHING

Preserving the Heritageof Fly FishingT R U S T E E S

E. M. BakwinMichael Bakwin

Foster BamPamela Bates

Steven BenardetePaul Bofinger

Duke Buchan IIIMickey Callanen

Peter CorbinBlake Drexler

William J. DreyerChristopher Garcia

Ronald GardGeorge R. Gibson III

Gardner L. GrantChris Gruseke

James HardmanJames Heckman

Lynn L. Hitschler Arthur Kaemmer, M.D.

Woods King IIICarl R. Kuehner III

Nancy MackinnonWalter T. MatiaWilliam C. McMaster, M.D.James MirendaJohn MundtDavid NicholsWayne NordbergMichael B. OsborneRaymond C. PecorStephen M. PeetLeigh H. PerkinsAllan K. PooleJohn RanoRoger RiccardiKristoph J. RollenhagenWilliam SalladinErnest SchwiebertRobert G. ScottJames A. SpendiffRichard G. TischDavid H. WalshJames C. Woods

Chairman of the BoardPresident

Vice Presidents

TreasurerSecretary

Clerk

Robert G. ScottDavid H. WalshGeorge R. Gibson IIILynn L. HitschlerMichael B. OsborneStephen M. PeetJames MirendaJames C. WoodsCharles R. Eichel

O F F I C E R S

S T A F F

EditorDesign & Production

Copy Editor

Kathleen AchorSara WilcoxSarah May Clarkson

THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER

We welcome contributions to The American Fly Fisher. Before making a submission,please review our Contributor’s Guidelines on our website (www.amff.com), orwrite to request a copy. The Museum cannot accept responsibility for statementsand interpretations that are wholly the author’s.

Paul Schullery

T R U S T E E S E M E R I T ICharles R. Eichel

G. Dick FinlayW. Michael Fitzgerald

William Herrick

Robert N. JohnsonDavid B. LedlieLeon L. MartuchKeith C. Russell

2 THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER

Of Baseball and Bamboo:Bobby Doerr, Ted Williams, and the

Paul H. Young Rod Companyby John A. Feldenzer

THE YEAR 1918 WAS Amemorable one. WorldWar I ended, a global

epidemic of influenza killedmillions, and the Boston RedSox won the World Series forthe last time in the twentiethcentury. Two men were bornthat year in southern Cal-ifornia who would later be-come the best of friends.Bobby Doerr and Ted Wil-liams were great baseballheroes of another era, Hallof Famers from the old Bos-ton Red Sox, and men wholoved to fish as much ormore than playing the gameof professional baseball.

Robert Pershing Doerrwas “a child star in baseball”and played so well at the highschool and American Legionlevels that he was signed, inthe fall of 1934, to play secondbase for the Hollywood Starsof the AAA Pacific CoastLeague.1 Needing his father’sconsent to play, Doerr got itby agreeing to continue stud-ies toward his high schooldiploma. At sixteen, Doerrlooked too young to playprofessional baseball and onoccasion was barred fromthe clubhouse.2

In late 1935, the Stars moved to SanDiego as the new Padres. TheodoreSamuel Williams, a local kid from SanDiego, joined the Padres team midsea-son 1936.3 “Williams and Doerr becameroad-trip friends, pushed together bytheir age and situation and what theyfound was a common love for fishing . . .Doerr talked about fishing for steelheadsand trout, Williams about fishing for bassand albacore.”4 Author David Halberstamstates that at the end of the ’36 season,“Doerr, who loved the outdoors, intro-duced Williams to fishing (which, ofcourse, Williams denies; as he remembersit, he introduced Doerr to fishing). Thatbegan a fifty-year friendship.”5

Doerr had been lured to the outdoorssince his early years. While playing inSan Diego, he was influenced by trainerLes Cook, who regularly fly fished theRogue River for steelhead in the off-sea-son. At eighteen, on a trip to the Roguewith Cook, Doerr fell in love with theriver, the area, and the local school-teacher, Monica Terpin. He eventuallymarried the schoolteacher, bought 160acres on the Rogue, and for the nextsixty-plus years never left the area excepteach spring to engage in the nationalpasttime.6

Over the years, Williams reflected onhis beginnings in angling. His father hadno interest in the outdoors and was

rarely at home, and hismother was totally absorbedin her activities with theSalvation Army. Williamsspent a lot of time alone, andhis interests were focused onthe baseball fields and fishingopportunities in southernCalifornia. In both My Turnat Bat: The Story of My Life(he referred to it as “thebook”) and Ted Williams:Fishing “The Big Three,”Williams reviewed his earlyexposure to fishing with JohnUnderwood, his coauthorand friend. Chick Rotert, agame warden and disabledWorld War I veteran, intro-duced the eleven-year-oldWilliams to the bass lakesaround San Diego. Williamswas hooked by the “six andseven pound bass, nice bass”7

and “finally got a rod and reel,a three-dollar and ninety-centPfleuger Akron reel and Hed-don bamboo rod . . .”8 Wil-liams admonished Under-wood, who was having trou-ble casting on an outing withWilliams, “I went out andlearned how to cast the damnthing before I went fishingwith it. I learned how to useit,” implying, of course, that

Underwood had not done his homeworkbefore their fishing trip.9 Williams was aperfectionist and simply could not toler-ate sharing an activity with those pos-sessing lesser skills than he. Anothergreat influence on young Williams wasLes Cassie, a kindly neighbor, highschool maintenance man, father of Ted’sbaseball teammate Les Cassie Jr., and anavid surf fisherman. It seems that Mr.Cassie’s own son had no interest inangling. Williams reflects:

We’d make up two or three Calcutta(“Kal-Kut-A”) rods and drive to Cor-onado Beach and fish the whole nightfor croakers and cobia. Till four in the

Figure 1. Rudy York, Ted Williams, and Bobby Doerr (left toright), World Series, Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, on the cover ofBaseball Magazine (October 1946, vol. LXXVII, no. 5). Courtesy

of the Baseball Magazine Co., New York. From the baseballmemorabilia collection of John A. Feldenzer.

FALL 2005 3

morning we’d fish. We’d catch the tideand wade in almost to our waists andget soaking wet, but I didn’t care. Surfcasting was great fun. After a while Icould cast as far as anybody on thebeach.10

At a young age, Ted Williams, the fish-erman, displayed two lifelong qualities.First, he loved all kinds of fishing, neverrestricting himself to fresh or salt water,to a single species pursued, or even totype of tackle (although fly fishing washis first love). Second, his perfectionistpersonality applied to his fishing asmuch as it did to his mastery of fighterplanes while a wartime Marine aviatorand, even more, his obsession over thescience of hitting a baseball. Williamssimply had to be the best at everything!

TOGETHER AGAIN: DOERR

AND WILLIAMS

Friends Bobby Doerr and Ted Wil-liams, along with their futures in profes-sional baseball, would again be united.Doerr was signed to a Red Sox contractin 1937 by general manager EddieCollins. Boston acquired the rights toWilliams in December 1937 and, after theSox 1938 training camp, manager JoeCronin sent Williams to the MinneapolisMillers of the Amercian Association “toimprove his head.”11 Red Sox manage-ment thought Williams was “too young,too immature, too wacky” according toWilliams’s biographer Leigh Montville.12

Doerr and Williams were emotionalopposites. Doerr was calm and uncom-monly mature for his age, whereasWilliams was emotionally volatile anddifficult to get along with. Halberstammasterfully summarizes their relation-ship in The Teammates.

In the beginning Ted had been closer toBobby Doerr. Bobby was five monthsolder, but infinitely more mature, withan uncommon emotional equilibriumthat would stay with him throughoutlife. He never seemed to get angry or getdown. This stood in sharp contrast toWilliams’ almost uncontrollable vola-tility, and his meteoric mood swings. Itwas as if Ted somehow understood thedifference, that Bobby was balanced ashe was not and that Bobby could han-dle things that he could not. Ted some-how understood that he needed Bobby’scalm and he seized on his friend’smaturity and took comfort in it fromthe start.13

The minor league year in Minnesotawas rewarding for Williams. He metRogers Hornsby, the “Rajah, greatest right-handed hitter of all time,”14 who claimed

“a great hitter is not born,he is made” and instructedTed to “get a good ball tohit.”15 Williams led theleague in four categorieswith a .366 batting average,forty-three home runs, 142RBIs, and 130 runs scored.16

He enjoyed the huntingand fishing in Minnesotaand would eventually marryDoris Soule, his first wifeand the daughter of hishunting guide there.17 In1939, Williams joined hisfriend Bobby Doerr on theBoston Red Sox, and base-ball history records theiraccomplishments (Figure 1).

Ted Williams would be-come a baseball legend:“The Splendid Splinter,”“Teddy Ballgame,” and hisfavorite, “The Kid,” thelast man to hit over .400in a season. He led Amer-ican League hitters inmore than thirty majorcategories in nineteen sea-sons. These included sixbatting championships,nine slugging titles, fourhome-run crowns, and anamazing eighteen seasons(seventeen in a row) of.300 hitting with a lifetimeaverage of .344. He hit 521career home runs and hada lifetime on-base percent-age of .483.18 Baseball fans can only spec-ulate how much greater these statisticswould have been had Williams not givenfive years to military service during twowars at the prime of his career. BillNowlin recently calculated what mighthave been if Williams had played hisentire career in San Diego in the PacificCoast League and without militaryinterruption. Nowlin projected a .419lifetime average and an almost unbeliev-able 990 career home runs!19 Williamswas elected to the Baseball Hall of Famein 1966.

Williams did not forget the specialpeople from his past. He loved Mr.Cassie. His only high school graduationpresent, a fountain pen, came from Mr.Cassie. Mr. Cassie used his vacation timeto drive Williams to spring training inhis second year with the Red Sox. Hepromised Mr. Cassie that if he ever madeit to the World Series, he would sendalong some tickets. In 1946, Mr. and Mrs.Cassie were at the World Series, compli-ments of “The Kid.”20 It would be theonly good thing that happened forWilliams during the 1946 World Series.

Doerr would carve out his own leg-end in baseball history as one of its greathitting second basemen. Unlike Wil-liams, whose approach to hitting wasscientific, Doerr was a natural, intuitivehitter who drove in more than one hun-dred RBIs in six of his fourteen sea-sons.21 The arguments between Williamsand Doerr over the correct batting swing(level according to Doerr, slight upswingaccording to Williams) are well known.Halberstam describes a memorable three-day argument during a steelhead fishingtrip on the Rogue River in 1987. Wil-liams: “You always chopped at the ball.”Doerr: “No, I didn’t chop.”22 This discus-sion culminated on 9 October 1987 in avideo-recorded hitting clinic and debateon the riverbank (Figure 2). The soft-spoken and patient Bobby Doerr madehis case for the proper mental approach,correct hand position, and a level oreven slight downswing. Then the domi-neering, irreverent, and sometimes pro-fane Williams preached on the essentialpivot of the hips, the ideal slightupswing, and the advantage of “chokingup” or switching to a lighter bat to get“quicker” with two strikes. A secret bal-

Figure 2. Ted Williams and Bob Doerr on the riverbank,Rogue River, 9 October 1987 after their famous riverbankbatting clinic/debate on the “proper swing” of a baseballbat. Zane Grey’s cabin is seen in the background. Grey

fished the Rogue frequently in the 1920S.Photo courtesy of Bob Doerr.

Dee Carter


lot on who won the debate resulted in a“tie.”23 But everyone knew Williams wasthe master, and no one, not even Doerr,could argue with his record. He wasquite likely the greatest hitter of all timeand had already published his theoriesin The Science of Hitting.

Doerr collected 2,042 hits, slammed223 home runs, and drove in 1,247 runsfrom 1937 to 1951 with a lifetime battingaverage of .288 (Figure 3). Unlike Wil-liams, he excelled in the 1946 WorldSeries with nine hits in six games for a.409 average.24 Also, unlike Williams,Doerr was a defensive standout andamong all-time career leaders for put-outs and assists for second basemen,including those who played muchlonger. Bobby Doerr was inducted intothe Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. Hisgreat friend, Ted Williams, was present.

THE PAUL H. YOUNG RODCOMPANY AND TED’S QUEST

FOR THE BEST

By 1918, the year that Doerr andWilliams were born, Paul H. Young wasan outdoorsman and taxidermist who

had moved from Arkansas, his birth-place, to Minnesota, where he sold fish-ing tackle in Duluth. After exploring thewaters of Minnesota and Wisconsin, hemoved to Detroit. At age twenty, he reada book on rodmaking and began pro-ducing hand-planed bamboo fly rods asa self-taught artisan. His shop at 8065Grand River Avenue in Detroit special-ized in taxidermy, fly tying, and tackleand soon became a gathering place foranglers. In 1925, Young began marketinghis rods to the public and, in 1927, devel-oped his first compound taper andissued his first catalog.25 Young’s innova-tion with tapers and his quest for perfec-tion led to a popular line of affordablebamboo fly rods for trout, bass, andsalmon. Demand for his rods quicklybecame overwhelming, and within twoyears Paul had to contract out to Heddonand Wes Jordan at South Bend for blanksmade to Young’s designed tapers.26

Young’s business survived the Depres-sion. During that time, he sold hisProsperity rod for about ten dollars. In1938, Young noted that his sixteen-year-old son, Jack, “has bamboo in theblood,” and Young began teaching himthe art of making bamboo rods.27 The

Youngs followed the great father-sonbamboo rod-making tradition of Ed andJim Payne, Fred and Leon Thomas,Eustis (“Bill”) Edwards and sons Geneand Bill, E. C. and Walton Powell, and,more recently, Charlie and Steve Jenkins.

Following V-J day, the Paul H. YoungRod Co. unveiled a new line of rods,including the delicate 6-foot, 3-inchMidge, the popular 71⁄2-foot Perfectionist,and Young’s Modified American Para-bolic rods, such as the famous 8-footPara 15.28 He also introduced the power-ful 71⁄2-foot Martha Marie model, de-signed for and named after his wife, whowas ahead of her time as an avid femalefly fisher. Martin J. Keane, a recognizedexpert on classic bamboo fly rods, statesthat 1947 to 1957 were Paul Young’s“golden years.”29 Young had a vast stockof prime, preembargo Tonkin cane withwhich to work. Improvements weremonumental: animal glues were discard-ed for synthetic resin adhesives, thefamous and unique Young flame finishwas developed by tempering bamboo ina “ring of fire,” parabolic tapers wereperfected, and varnish coating wasimproved.

Ted Williams was a fanatic about

Figure 3. Inscribed photo of Bobby Doerr getting his 2,000th hit at Yankee Stadium, 1951.Yogi Berra is catching. Photo courtesy of Bob Doerr.

FALL 2005 5

sporting equipment. He traveled everywinter to the Hillerich and Bradsby fac-tory in Kentucky to choose his ownLouisville Sluggers, those of the “whitestash and the tightest grain.”30 He was per-ceptive about, and sensitive to, his bats.

I always worked on my bats, boningthem down, putting a shine on them,forcing the fibers together. I treatedthem like babies. Weight tolerance gotto be a big thing with me. The weightcan change. Early in the season it’s coldand damp and the bats lying around onthe ground pick up moisture and getheavier. I used to take them down to thepost office to have them weighed.Eventually, with the Red Sox, we got alittle set of scales put in the lockerroom. I’ll never forget Mr. Hillerich ofHillerich and Bradsby, the LouisvilleSlugger Company, put six bats on a bedin Boston. One was a half ounce heavierthan the others. He had me close myeyes and pick out the heavier bat. Ipicked it out twice in a row.31

His approach to fishing tackle was noless intense. He wanted the best equip-ment available to optimize his perfor-mance, whether swinging a baseball bator casting to tarpon, bonefish, or At-lantic salmon, his “big three.” Williamshad to have the best to be the best. “Ifthere is one thing I am an absolute nutabout in fishing, it’s adequate tackle—theright rod and reel, the correct strengthline, the best-tied knots, the sharpesthooks. It is as easy as it is important,because you can be sure of those thingsno matter how experienced you are.”32

THE FLORIDA KEYS

Williams became interested in Floridafishing when reading about Ray Hollandcatching powerful snook there. Hebecame fascinated with saltwater fly fish-ing. “I loved to fly cast even then—I hadHeddon rods, South Bend rods, bamboorods, and a B-level or C-level line. And Iloved to make my own flies. I’d beendoing it since the World Series in 1946.”33

In the 1940s, Islamorada, Florida, was abarren place except for serious fishingguides, led by Jimmie Albright and JackBrothers, who poled their small skiffs insearch of bonefish and tarpon. In 1947,Albright, inventor of the Albright Specialknot, guided Joe Brooks, who caughtthree bonefish on flies during his firstday.34 Brooks was a writer, and word gotaround.

Williams’s interest in bonefishing wasfurther stimulated by J. Lee Cuddy, anoutstanding saltwater fly fisherman.35

The Florida Keys was a place for dedicat-ed anglers, so it was the place for TedWilliams. Author R. B. Cramer describes

Williams in Florida this way: “Ted coulddo it all, brilliantly. The guides didn’tmake much fuss about his fame, but theyloved his fishing. His meticulous detailwork, always an oddity at Fenway Park,was respected here as the mark of a fineangler. Ted had the best tackle, best reels,best rods, the perfect line, his lures wereimpeccable.”36

Williams’s intensity, natural ability,and acquired skill made it difficult forothers to fish with him. In his short essay“I’m No Ted Williams,” Charles Elliot,the forest ranger, prolific writer, and fieldeditor of Outdoor Life for many years,described a memorable day of bonefish-ing with Williams and Joe Brooks off KeyLargo in 1951. They were fly fishing andusing a large bamboo rod (likely a PaulYoung rod). “Sure you can handle thatrod?” Williams asked. Initially, Williamswas frustrated by Elliot’s inability to spotbonefish at a distance or distinguish onefrom a barracuda or shark. “How in thehell can you catch ’m if you can’t see ’m?”Williams asked explosively. Then later,“You’re going to catch a bonefish if wehave to kick it into the boat and fasten itto your fly,” Williams said. After severaltechnical errors, such as catching the flyline around the reel handle, thus losingthe bonefish and then inadvertentlyhooking a barracuda, Elliot gave up thebamboo. Williams effortlessly cast 110feet into a stiff breeze then proceeded tohook and land a 10-pound bonefish. Hequickly casted to, and landed, another.Elliot eventually reeled in a 5-pounderthat Brooks had hooked. The strength ofthe fish and effort required impressedElliot. “I know one thing,” I gasped. “I’mnot man enough to catch a ten-pounder,if they grow in strength as they increasein size.” “If you don’t learn how to throwthat line,” Williams grunted, “you’llnever have a chance at a ten-pounder.”When Elliot finally hooked a huge bone-fish and then broke it off, Williams wasmerciful. “Oh well,” he said,“no man batsa thousand in the bonefish league.”37 Buthow about .400? Williams was becominga master of bonefish and tarpon just ashe had mastered major league pitchers.

Williams also had a need to know hewas the best, an insecurity that was insa-tiable. Author R. B. Cramer relates a con-versation between Williams and a Bostonwriter (one of the “knights of the key-board,” as Williams disdainfully calledthem):

“Ain’t no one in heaven or earth everknew more about fishing.”

“Sure there is,” says the scribe.“Oh yeah? Who?”“Well God made the fish.”“Yeah, awright,” Ted says. “But you

had to go pretty far back.”38

But even heroes have heroes. One ofWilliams’s heroes was Zane Grey (ZG),the author and sportsman. Williamsadmired ZG not for his literary statusbut for his independent spirit and deter-mination to be the best fisherman of histime.39 Grey also had a baseball connec-tion and was a very talented slugger (andpitcher!) at the collegiate and semipro-fessional levels.40 ZG pioneered saltwaterfly fishing for tarpon, bonefish, and per-mit in Long Key, Florida, in the earlytwentieth century. He was president ofthe Long Key Fishing Club for threeyears after its inception in 1917.41

(Williams often fished for tarpon aloneat a place off Long Key. The fishingguides called it “Ted’s Spot.”42) Greyowned a fishing cabin on the RogueRiver and often fished there for steelheadin the 1920s (see Figure 2).43 Indeed, thelast six chapters of Grey’s book, Tales ofFresh-Water Fishing, and many of itsphotographic illustrations describe hisfly-fishing experiences on the Roguewith his brother, son, and others.44 “TheRogue River magnifies the favorite placesand fish of our boyhood. This river isindeed magnificent. Think. It is icywater, crystal clear. It runs between highmountain slopes of Oregon forests. Andit is full of beautiful, savage, unconquer-able fish.”45

Nevertheless, Grey, like Williams, wasdrawn to the sea for his ultimate fishingchallenges. “Although his sons and ZGreserved a special place in their privatelives for steelhead trout fishing inOregon, his enduring angling fame restson his pioneering efforts in the sea.”46 Inhis monograph, Sea Angling, Grey writes:

Salmon-fishermen who have masteredthe highest art of angling must neverforget that salmon run up out of thesea. It is the sea that makes the silverlord of the Restigouche the incompara-ble fish he is. It is the sea that makes thepearl tinted steelhead of the Rogue sosavage and wonderful. It is the salt waterthat develops the dynamic bonefish.Which is to say that the sea is the moth-er of all fish, and for that matter, of alllife on the earth.47

YOUNG AND WILLIAMS

It is not surprising that Williams’squest for fine fly-fishing tackle, especial-ly saltwater tackle, would lead him to thedoorstep of Paul Young. How Williamslearned about Paul Young’s rods isn’tclear, but it was possibly from JimmieAlbright. Albright had moved fromDetroit to the Keys in 1942 to fish andmay have directed Williams to Young’sDetroit shop.48 Lee Cuddy was also usingYoung’s rods. Young was in those creative


“golden years” and, in 1948 or 1949, Wil-liams began to visit the Young shop inDetroit after finishing games at TigerStadium.49 (Ted loved Tiger Stadium. “Isaw the ball better there. I hit fifty-fourhome runs in Detroit, more than anyother park I played in on the road.”50)Williams studied and discussed rodtapers with Paul Young and ordered cus-tom bamboo rods to fish for tarpon,snook, and bonefish in Florida. Youngmade several custom rods for Williamswith Ted’s name on them. The single-tip9-foot, 3-inch, 61⁄8-ounce Parabolic 18 rodshown above has Paul Young’s usualhand lettering in print as well as TEDWILLIAMS MAY 1950 written in script(Figure 4).51 Young also developed a 9-foot, 6-inch Parabolic 18 bass and lightsteelhead rod for Williams.

Bob Summers, a protégé of PaulYoung who began working in the shopafter high school in 1956 and stayed onfor eighteen years, remembers the visitsof Ted Williams to the shop. Summersand I studied the Young Co. tackle cata-logs from the 1950s titled More FishingLess Fussing. The dated 1950 catalogmakes no mention of Williams. Thenext, undated catalog (with Lee Cuddyand a fly-caught tarpon on the cover),which Summers and I believe to be from1952 or 1953, contains two photographsof Williams: one with his first bonefish

caught on a Paul Young Oregon Eggbait-casting rod and one of Williams“with a 9 lb. bonefish taken with our 9-foot–18 modified parabolic rod, De-cember 26, 1950 at Key Largo, Florida.”52

The “9-foot” Para 18 in the second pho-tograph may be the 9-foot, 3-inch rodshown in Figure 4.53 This rod and the 9-foot, 6-inch rod were once owned byRon Swanson, who notes that the 9-foot,6-inch rod had inked markings by PaulYoung that tallied the number of bone-fish caught by Williams and him.54 Thismost likely occurred on Young’s 1950–1951holiday fishing trip to Key Largo. The1952–1953 catalog also contains this letterfrom Williams to Young.

Dear Paul:Inclosed find check that will cover

my bill and Bobby Doerr’s rod.* Gee!He just loved the feel of his as soon ashe felt it. He said when he told me to goahead and order it that he wasn’t surehe was doing the smart thing, but Iassured him he’d never be sorry and heis tickled pink. Now about mine. I triedit the other day and I’m not so sure itcould be improved on. I can’t wait tillwe get in action down there and I thinkwhen we do we’ll have all the boyssinging.

I lost the bill you sent me so if I’mnot exactly right will square with you in

Detroit. You should see the flies I’mtying—really out of this world—nokidding.

All my love to “Mrs. America” andfamily.“Ted” Williams, Massachusetts(Boston Red Sox) *(9-foot–18/17–6 modified parabolic)55

It seems that two of Young’s Para 18rods were destined to become “TedWilliams” models (Figure 5). The1952–1953 catalog has a list of regular anddry-fly rods as well as ModifiedAmerican Parabolics on the inside frontcover. The two Ted Williams models are a9-foot, two-piece Para 18 (6.25 ounceswith 7⁄64-inch tip-top) labeled “TedWilliams Bonefish” for GAF (WF9) line,and a lighter 9-foot, 6-inch, two-piecePara 18 (6.09 ounces with a 6⁄64-inch tip-top) labeled “Ted Williams Bass Rod,Light Steelhead” for GBF (WF8) line. AFlorida Special Bonefish Para 18 model(9-foot, 6-inch, two-piece, 6.40-ouncerod with 7⁄64-inch tip-top for GAF line)and Lee Cuddy Powerhouse Para 20 (9-foot, two-piece, 7.00-ounce, 8⁄64-inch tip-top for 2A line) model were also listed.56

Sometime thereafter (Williams wasflying a Marine F-9 Panther jet in Koreaduring 1952–1953), he began experiment-ing with bamboo rods on his own. Wil-liams finished several himself from

Figure 4. Ted Williams’s personal rod, a Paul H. Young Parabolic 18, one tip,dated May 1950. Photo courtesy of Ron Swanson.

Ron Swanson; computer background modification by Daaave Summers

Figure 5 (A and B). The TedWilliams Parabolic 18, dated

May 1949 (with Doerr’s nameon it also), in Paul Young’s

handwriting, which was givento Doerr by the Youngs on

their trip to Oregon, late 1951.The rod is in the Ted

Williams Museum andHitters Hall of Fame Museum

in Hernando, Florida.

Stephen Brown; computer background modification by Daaave Summers Stephen Brown; computer background modification by Daaave Summers

A B

Figure 7. Martha Marie Young with a fish on, Rogue River,late 1951. Lucas at the oars, Doerr in the front of the boat.

Williams referred to Martha as “Mrs. America.” Photo waslikely taken by Paul Young. Photo courtesy of Bob Doerr.

FALL 2005 7

Young Co. blanks and then developed hisown business, the Ted Williams TackleManufacturing Company.57 Williamsthen personally asked Paul Young to notuse his name on any of the Young modelsor in the catalog. Young agreed. In theundated but likely 1955–1956 catalog(with Ned Jewett Jr. on the cover), there isno mention of Ted Williams or his mod-els. The Ted Williams Bonefish modelbecame the Florida Special Para 18 (9-foot, 6.25 ounces with 7⁄64 [GAF] and 6⁄64[GBG] tip-tops).58 Williams subsequent-ly entered into a major business relation-ship with Sears Roebuck and Company.The exclusive five-year contract, an-nounced on 27 December 1960 in Chi-cago, was for $100,000 per year.59

THE DOERR ROD

In 1950 or 1951, Williams requested thatYoung develop a custom taper for hisfriend, Bobby Doerr, to use for steelhead

and salmon on the big water in Oregon.Doerr picked up his rod at the Youngs’shop in the fall of 1951, the year heretired. He paid $75 for the rod.60 TedWilliams verified this story to Tom Ripp,a longtime fishing friend of Doerr’s, in thespring of 1988 during a party in Boston tocelebrate the retirement of Doerr’s num-ber 1 at Fenway Park (Figure 6).61

In late 1951, Paul and Martha MarieYoung traveled to Oregon to fish theRogue River for winter steelhead withDoerr and the famous river guide LarryLucas (Figure 7). During that fishingtrip, Young assessed Doerr’s homewaters, his fishing capability, and hispowerful, muscular arms. Paul Young lefta rod with Doerr after the trip. This wasa 9-foot, 6.41-ounce, two-piece Parabolic18 with one tip. It was marked on the buttsection with the names of both Williamsand Doerr, Parabolic 18, the usual techni-cal information, and the date, May 1949,in the usual Paul H. Young printing (see

Figure 5). Doerr fished the heavy rod forsteelhead, but he never liked it as muchas his Bobby Doerr prototype.62 He sentthe rod back to the Youngs’ shop forrestoration at some point, and it wasreturned to him with three tips. He neverfished the rod again and subsequentlydonated it to the Ted Williams Museumand Hitters Hall of Fame in Hernando,Florida, where it can now be viewed (seeFigure 5). Doerr and his wife, Monica,continued a lifetime friendship with theYoungs and maintained contact withMartha Marie after Paul’s death in 1960.In a 1990 phone conversation, Marthatold Bobby and Monica that she “wasninety-one years old and, because ofknee surgery, had missed the opening oftrout season for the first time in sixty-fiveyears, and would not miss another!”63

The taper for what would later becomethe Bobby Doerr model was establishedin October and the blanks cut inNovember 1952. This early taper, written

Figure 6. Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky (standing), BobbyDoerr, and Dom DiMaggio celebrating the retirement of

Doerr’s uniform number (1) at Jimmy’s restaurant,Boston Harbor, 12 May 1988. Photo taken by Everett

Gothier. Photo courtesy of Tom Ripp.

Figure 8. Original BobbyDoerr model taper in Paul

Young’s handwriting (on theback of a bicycle tire adver-

tisement), fall 1952. Note Para17 seen faintly over encircledBob Doerr. Courtesy of Tom

Ripp from Todd Young.

Figure 10. Typical Paul Young–style blackanodized aluminum screw-locking cork insert reel

seats, functionally designed with light weightbeing a priority. Doerr model above and pre-1954

(no serial number) professionally restored Para 15 below. Rods built after 1946 have the

Young Co. die stamp on the butt cap.


in Young’s hand (on the back of a bicycletire advertisement!) was obtained by TomRipp in 1990 from Todd Young, Young’sgrandson and rodmaker (Figure 8).64 The1955–1956 Paul H. Young Co. catalog, withNed Jewett Jr. on the cover, describes theBobby Doerr model for the first timeand offers it, in deluxe grade only, for$75.65

Mark Canfield is a bamboo rodmakerwith thirty years experience from Ket-chum, Idaho. He is also an expert on rodtapers and a former owner of the BobbyDoerr rod illustrated in this essay. InAugust 2003, he discussed the history ofthe rod with Doerr personally. Canfieldexamined Young’s original productiontaper for the Doerr model of 1952 (seeFigure 8) and compared it with the taper(compensated over varnish) of the 1955rod illustrated here. The butt sectiontapers are very similar, but the 1952model has significantly more bamboofrom the midbutt section through theferrule and clear through to the tips. Thisindicates that the original Doerr modelwas made for at least a 9WF line and thatPaul Young subsequently modified theDoerr rod to suit the needs of his laterfishing clients.66 I asked Canfield to ex-plore any relationship between the popu-lar Para 17 model (81⁄2 feet) and the originalDoerr rod because the written taper hasPara 17 erased right above the encircledBob Doerr (see Figure 8), and the ferrulesize, 17⁄64 inch, is the same. Canfield’s

micrometer data show that the Para 17 isnearly identical to the original Doerrmodel through the butt section, exceptin the lowest 6 inches above the handgrasp, and nearly identical for 5 inchesabove and below the ferrule. Aside fromthose two places, however, there is nosimilarity. Canfield concluded that theoriginal Doerr model was not a simplemodification of a previous Para 17 taper.67

It is more likely that the original 6-plus-ounce, 9-foot rod made for Doerr was amodification of the 9-foot Para 18 thathad already been made for Williams (seeFigure 4).

Young was a fanatic about rod weightand action and was frequently modifyinghis tapers. Ernest Schwiebert is a long-standing aficionado of Young rods. Hismagnum opus, Trout, contains a chapter,“The Iconography of the Split-CaneRod,” in which he postulates that laterYoung parabolics were based on proto-type or experimental models that Younglisted as early as 1933 in his book Makingand Using the Fly and Leader. “Its [thePara 15’s] larger cousin, the powerful Para-bolic 17 of eight and a half feet and fiveand a half ounces is clearly anticipatedby the experimental nine foot, five andhalf ounce slow-action rod Young devel-oped right before the Second WorldWar.”68 Young describes such “remodel-ing” of a 9-foot “slow” rod in Making andUsing the Fly and Leader. He describesthe slow rod’s poor dry-fly casting capa-

bility and suggests that “such a rod maybe cut down: a 9 foot rod may be cut to81⁄2 or 8 foot 3 inches and becomes a finedry fly rod.”69 In a chapter titled “TheAlchemy of Bamboo,” Schwiebert re-ported his experience with a unique YoungParabolic 17, one of Young’s personal rods,sent to him by Martha Marie after Paul’sdeath. The rod “performed beautifully”in Patagonia, Iceland, Labrador, andYellowstone.70 The rod had three tips,one bringing the length to 81⁄2 feet and theother two special tips (one for nymphs,one for dry flies) bringing the rod tonearly 9 feet.

Most customers considered this earlyprototype of the famous Parabolic 17too radical in its calibrations and cast-ing stroke, but Paul Young loved itsdemanding character, and grudginglymodified his subsequent Parabolic 17tapers to satisfy his audience. The orig-inal has a unique character, with a will-ful spirit of its own, and it was sometime before I successfully adjusted mycasting rhythms to fulfill its obviouspotential.71

The 1955 Doerr model illustratedbelow was originally sold by the companyon 31 October 1955.72 It is a powerful 9-foot, two-piece rod with two tips: a WF7(HCF), bringing the rod weight to 5.60ounces, and an WF8 (GBF) tip, resultingin a 5.73-ounce rod (Figure 9). The reelseat is cork and black anodized alu-

Figure 9. A 1955 Bobby Doerr model (serialnumber 2093) in excellent and original con-dition with Young’s book, Making and Using

the Fly and Leader, 3rd edition, 1938.

Dan McDilda and Daaave Summers


FALL 2005 9

minum with down-locking screw andthe Young Co. die stamp on the butt cap(Figure 10). The cork grip is Wells type.The beautiful, Young-style, flame-tem-pered cane with 2-by-2 node placementis wrapped in the typical auburn-coloredsilks with a red spiral silk wrap to distin-guish the WF7 tip at both male ferruleand tip-top. The butt ink markings, inYoung’s handwriting, include the origi-nal owner’s name as well as BOB DOERRMODEL, 9’—5.73 oz. AND 5.60 OZ. PAUL H.YOUNG CO—DETROIT—MAKER and NO.2093 below the stripping guide. The tipsare marked: TIP 6⁄64 G.B.F. #2093 and TIPTOP 5 1/2/64 H.C.F. #2093 (Figure 11). Thesize 17 Super Z ferrules are oxidized black,and the tungsten guides and tip-tops arefrom the Perfection Tip Company. Therod was packaged in a brown satin bagwith brass-collared aluminum Cal Airtube (Figure 12).

A very limited number of Doerr mod-els were built. Bob Summers contendsthat “less than two dozen” Doerr rodswere made and even fewer of the FloridaSpecial model.73 My review of MartyKeane’s tackle catalogs (Classic Rods &Tackle) from 1983 to 2004 shows thatonly three Doerr models sold on the sec-ondary market.74 Keane is the caretakerof the Paul H. Young Co. ledger, whichrecords the production of all rods from26 July 1955 (starting with serial number1955) to 25 May 1976. Before July 1955, thecompany did not use serial numbers.Keane recently reviewed the ledger andreported:

. . . During this period, when serialnumbers were recorded for each rod

and they were the only ones that appearin the ledger, there were a total of twen-ty-seven Bobby Doerr rods made; it wasapparently much more than the FloridaSpecial or the Powerhouse at 91⁄2 feet, allof which were in single digits for theproduction totals.75

There is no record of how many Doerrmodels were made from the fall of 1952until July 1955, when the ledger began.Obviously, Paul Young himself only par-ticipated in their production until hisdeath in April 1960. Thereafter, Doerrmodels were built by Bob Summers andJack Young. The limited number ofDoerr models made reflects the “special-ty” nature of the rod and the 1950s

advent of fiberglass technology. Fiber-glass gave an angler the ability to cast aheavy line with a rod just as large butmuch lighter than bamboo. Ted Williamswas quick to adapt to the new technology.

Interestingly, Paul Young named onlya few of his many fly rods after individu-als: the 71⁄2-foot Martha Marie after hiswife and the 9-foot Bobby Doerr. Youngundoubtedly wanted to market a TedWilliams model (the Para 18) untilWilliams put a stop to it. The early ver-sion of the 8-foot Para 15 was named theK. T. Keller76 model after the former pres-ident and board chair of the ChryslerCorporation, who was “a loyal devotee ofthe rod.”77 The 1952–1953 catalog referredto the Lee Cuddy Powerhouse model, butCuddy’s name was dropped in the1955–1956 catalog.78

Bobby Doerr loved his Paul Youngcustom rod. Williams attested to this inhis letter to Young.79 However, Doerr didnot realize that Paul Young offered therod to the public as the Bobby Doerrmodel for more than thirty years! In 1986,Tom Ripp discovered this fact whilereading an article describing fly rod andline balance by A. J. McClane in a FlyFisherman magazine from 1976.80 Unfor-tunately, Doerr lost his only prototypeDoerr model in the 1950s on the RogueRiver. When he returned to where he leftit on the riverbank one afternoon, therod was gone! Doerr’s longtime fishingbuddies from the San Francisco Bay area(organized as the Oregon SashweightSociety or O.S.S.), led by Tom Ripp,commissioned Todd Young to build aduplicate Bobby Doerr model rod fromthe original Paul Young taper. This wasaccomplished, and on 2 June 1990, theO.S.S. presented Doerr with his new

Figure 11. Paul Young inked more technical information on bamboo rods than anyother maker. A 1955 Doerr model above, pre-1954 restored Para 15 below.

Figure 12. A 1955 Doerr model with original bag and aluminum tube.




Bobby Doerr model bamboo rod at adinner party thirty-nine years after hereceived the original.81 That day Doerrwas seen enthusiastically casting it in alocal park (Figure 13). He later promisedTodd Young that the “the user will ownthe rod,” not the reverse.82

Not everyone appreciated the BobbyDoerr model. Arnold Gingrich, longtimeeditor of Esquire magazine, avid fly fisher-man, and a “light tacklecrank”83 according to ErnestSchwiebert, was a devotee ofPaul Young rods, especiallythe diminutive Midgemodel. The Well-TemperedAngler contains a chaptertitled “Paul Young and theMidge Rod,” in which Gin-grich describes a salmonfishing trip to Iceland withhis fly-fishing wife, Jane. Heobtained two Bobby Doerrrods from Young and hadgreat difficulty casting the9-footer: “A stiffer, morestubbornly clublike andunyielding stick I never triedto wield . . .”84 Gingrich wasa very slight man and sim-ply could not get the largesemiparabolic taper to re-spond to him. He called therod a “shillelagh” and gaveboth rods as gifts to his Ice-landic guides, “in whose eyesa 6-ounce rod is practically atoy.”85 Gudmundur, the guidewho received Jane’s BobbyDoerr steelhead rod, “foryears thereafter sent uscountless pictures of slews ofsalmon taken ‘on the Janerod and the Arnold reel.’”86

Paul Young died on 28April 1960. Martha Marieand son Jack continued therod-making tradition alongwith Bob Summers. Martharetired in 1969, and Jackmoved the company fromDetroit to Traverse City. Bob Summersleft the Youngs in 1972 to make his ownfine bamboo rods.87 Todd Young contin-ued the rod-making business on a limit-ed basis thereafter. Martha Marie Youngpassed away on 6 April 1995.

If there was a Hall of Fame for bam-boo rod-building, Paul Young would bean early inductee. His rods are cherishedby those fortunate enough to own andfish them. They are highly collectible andcommand impressive prices today on thesecondary market. The Young Company’sproduction until 1976 was approximately5,000 rods. In 1976, Keane estimated thetotal at 5,500,88 but his later review of the

ledger shows the last recorded serialnumber as 4715.89 “The record bookshows no rods made during the monthof April 1960, it goes from March 14thserial number 3888 to May 21st which isserial number 3889.”90 Keane originallyreported that the last rod built in Young’slifetime was a Para 15 with serial number3892.91 The quality of Young’s bambooand the uniqueness of his tempering

have made later reproductions of hisrods by other makers less than perfectcopies. Paul Young was a true master ofhis art.

WILLIAMS: A LIFELONGLOVE AFFAIR WITH FISH

Ted Williams pursued fishing withpassion, and it became an escape forhim. Eventually, it became his life. Afterhis disappointing performance in the1946 World Series (he went five for twen-ty-five with no home runs), he escapedto Florida to fish. The Boston sportswrit-ers were merciless, saying that Ted Wil-

liams couldn’t win the big ones. He spentmore and more time on the water. In1948, when Doris was in a Boston hospi-tal to deliver their first child, Williamswas in Florida fishing. The papers (andmothers in Boston) were brutal. Williamsspent two days in Boston, then was backfishing. Fishing the Keys for bonefish withlight fly tackle became an obsession.“When Ted tried this new sport, he found

a love that would last longerthan any of his marriages.”92

In 1955, he fished the Mir-amichi for Atlantic salmonwith guide Roy Curtis. By1958, he was hooked, boughta pool on the river in 1961,and hired Roy as guide andRoy’s wife Edna as house-keeper. On the Miramichi,Williams related his respectfor the Atlantic salmon toRed Smith, dean of Amer-ican sportswriters: “The At-lantic salmon is very, veryspecial in my mind. Thegreatest experience a fisher-man can have is to hook anAtlantic salmon. There isnothing in angling like it.”93

Williams stalked thesalmon relentlessly. He hadto be the best. When authorJohn Underwood asked RoyCurtis, “Is he the best?” Royanswered, “The best I’veseen. Forty years and I ain’tseen none better, no.”94

Williams feared for thefuture of the Atlantic salm-on and worried about thepollution from acid rain,the “ravages of heavy net-ting,” and the “illegal opera-tions” of commercial fisher-men. “The Atlantic salmonis a power-packed, leapingsilver thing of beauty, andGod, I hope it lives forever,”he said.95

His passion for fly fishingboth fresh and salt water continued afterhis career as a player and managerended. He retired as a player in 1960 andlater managed the Washington Senatorsand Texas Rangers from 1969 to 1972.Without the tug of professional baseball,his life became his own. Each winter, he’dfish the flats, then head to the BostonSportmen’s Show, where he demonstrat-ed fly casting and pontificated on fish-ing. His interest in tackle evolved asfiberglass then graphite all but replacedbamboo fly rods. He had signed a six-fig-ure contract with Sears and had his nameon a complete line of fishing tackle, hunt-ing gear, and other sporting goods.96

Figure 13. Bob Doerr, age seventy-two, casting hisnew Todd Young Bobby Doerr model rod in a park,

San Ramon, California, 2 June 1990.

Tom Ripp

FALL 2005 1 1

Williams joined his hero, Zane Grey,upon induction into the InternationalGame Fishing Association’s Hall of Famein 1999.97 That year, at nearly eighty-one,Ted Williams threw out the first pitch atthe All Star game in Fenway Park. Al-though he needed the great, nearly .400hitter Tony Gwynn to stabilize his weakleft side, Williams stood and threw astraight strike to Carlton Fisk, who wascatching. All of the active All Stars andthose retired Hall of Fame legends(Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Bob Feller,and others) mobbed Williams on themound.98 During this tearful tribute andhomecoming, he was welcomed by thefans of Boston, with whom he had hadsuch a tumultuous relationship fiftyyears earlier. The prodigal son was home,and Williams wept with joy.

Williams was also loved in Boston foranother reason. For many years, he was astrong advocate of the Jimmy Fund, thepublic, fund-raising arm of the DanaFarber Cancer Institute. Williams dedi-cated himself to supporting childrenwith cancer, but would accept no publicrecognition for this until November 1988.At age seventy, he was honored in Bostonat an event called “An Evening withNumber 9.” Honored guests includedteammates Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky,and Dominic DiMaggio, as well as oppos-ing greats Bob Feller and Joe DiMaggio.The great hitter Reggie Jackson wasthere, as well as close fishing friends CurtGowdy, the sportscaster, and Bud Leavitt,sports columnist for the Bangor DailyNews. His fellow marine aviator andastronaut John Glenn gave a testimonialof Williams in Korea, and there werevideo appearances by President RonaldReagan and President-elect George H. W.Bush. Bud Leavitt proclaimed Williamsto be “a great American, a great humanbeing, and a helluva Republican.”99

Williams was humbled by the event.In the end, Williams achieved his goals.

He’d done, he believed, the hardestthing in sport: by God, he hit the ball.And there was pride in his new life: hehad his name on more rods and reels,hunting guns, tackle boxes, jackets,boots and bats than any man in theworld. He studied fishing like no otherman, and lent to it his fame and grace,his discerning eye. He had his tourna-ment wins and trophies, a fishing bookand fishing movies, and he got histhousand of the Big Three.100

Williams was a complex man whosecareer reached lofty public heights, butwhose difficult personality complicatedhis relationships with wives, children,friends, baseball fans, and sportswriters.There is no better evidence of this than

Halberstam’s painful description ofDoerr’s tarpon fishing trip with Williamsin Islamorada in 1961 or 1962. Doerrrecalled the experience at “An Eveningwith Number 9.” Williams verballyabused Doerr when Doerr failed on sev-eral occasions to land a tarpon. Doerrforgave Williams, as he always did. Ac-cording to Halberstam, “Had BobbyDoerr been anyone else, someone not asbalanced, someone not as comfortablewith himself, someone who didn’tunderstand Ted so well, it might haveended the friendship.”101 Bobby Doerrloved Ted Williams, and Ted lovedBobby. They were friends, and Ted wasTed. Ted Williams died on 5 July 2002 atage eighty-three in Inverness, Florida.He never saw the Boston Red Sox win aWorld Series.

DOERR: STILL ON THE ROGUE

At the time of this writing, BobbyDoerr is nearly eighty-seven and thefourth-oldest living member of theBaseball Hall of Fame. “Doerr was easilythe most popular member of the RedSox and possibly the most popular base-ball player of his era.”102 He retired in1951 because of a lumbar spinal problem.He sought advice from Dr. James L.Poppen, a famous neurosurgeon at theLahey Clinic in Boston.103 Poppen toldDoerr that he might avoid a fusion oper-ation if he stopped playing baseball, andDoerr did. He later coached the Red Soxand Toronto Blue Jays. Bobby Doerr losthis beloved wife, Monica, in December2003 after sixty-five years of marriage.They have one son, Donald.

In 1928, Zane Grey stated that “Thehappiest lot of any angler would be tolive somewhere along the banks of theRogue River, most beautiful stream ofOregon. Then, if he kept close watch onconditions, he could be ready on the spotwhen the run of steelhead began.”104

Field & Stream memorialized ZaneGrey in 1995 and honored Bobby Doerrin their Field & Stream “Legends” sec-tion, which commemorated the onehundredth anniversary of the magazine.In his article titled “On the RogueAgain,” Pat Smith wrote, “Bobby Doerrand Zane Grey both fell in love with theRogue at first sight . . . and both made ittheir home.”105 Bobby Doerr continuesto live on and to fish his favorite RogueRiver for steelhead and salmon. He livedto see the Red Sox become World Cham-pions as “the curse of the Bambino” waslifted in October 2004.106

Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr arebaseball heroes of another time, a timewhen players often remained on thesame team for their entire careers. These

heroes developed lasting bonds withtheir fans and communities. They be-came like family, which is not to say, asin the case of Williams, that the situationwas always pleasant. They were humanbut, unlike us, their mistakes and baddays became tomorrow’s headlines. Theywere patriotic and in wartime did notshirk their duty to country. They pur-sued athletic excellence and achievementin professional baseball the old-fash-ioned way, without illegal performance-enhancing drugs. They were paid to playa game that most of us only dream ofplaying. Like us, they loved to fish.Williams was driven in his pursuit of fishand becoming the best. Doerr was quiet,confident, and content in achieving life’sgoals and recreational pleasure. Williamsand Doerr were the heroes of our child-hood and remain the objects of our fas-cination today.

!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Bobby Doerr,Tom Ripp, Bob Summers, MarkCanfield, and Stephen Brown for theirhelp with my research and for theiradvice and comments. Thanks to RonSwanson for providing the photo of theTed Williams’s personal Para 18 rod,which he once owned.

ENDNOTES

1. David Halberstam, Summer of ’49(New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc.,1989), 110.

2. Ibid.3. Interview with Bob Doerr and Ted

Williams by Jim Kaat, “Bob Costas Coast toCoast” (radio program), 12 July 1992, duringthe All-Star break in San Diego and the occa-sion of the naming of the Ted WilliamsExpressway.

4. Leigh Montville, Ted Williams: TheBiography of an American Hero (New York:Doubleday, 2004), 33.

5. Halberstam, Summer of ’49, 111.6. David Halberstam, The Teammates

(New York: Hyperion, 2003), 70–71.7. Ted Williams with John Underwood,

My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life (NewYork: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1988),26–27.

8. Ted Williams and John Underwood,Ted Williams: Fishing “The Big Three”: Tar-pon, Bonefish, Atlantic Salmon (New York:Simon & Schuster, 1982), 70–71.

9. Ibid., 71.10. Ibid.11. Montville, Ted Williams: The Biogra-

phy of an American Hero, 41.12. Ibid.13. Halberstam, The Teammates, 16–17.14. Ted Williams with John Underwood,

The Science of Hitting (New York: Simon &


Schuster, 1970), 88.15. Ibid., 24.16. Bill Nowlin, The Kid: Ted Williams in

San Diego (Cambridge, Mass.: Rounder Books,2005), 162.

17. Ibid., 164.18. Paul Adomites et al., Cooperstown

Hall of Fame Players (Lincolnwood, Ill.: Pub-lications International, Ltd., 2002), 210–11.

19. Nowlin, The Kid: Ted Williams in SanDiego, 344.

20. Williams with Underwood, My Turnat Bat: The Story of My Life, 28.

21. Adomites et al., Cooperstown Hall ofFame Players, 194.

22. Halberstam, The Teammates, 68–69.23. Private video recording by Lee

Thornally, Rogue River, 9 October 1987.24. Adomites et al., Cooperstown Hall of

Fame Players, 194.25. Dick Spurr, Classic Bamboo Rod-

makers Past and Present (Grand Junction,Colo.: Centennial Publications, 1992), 91.

26. A. J. Campbell, Classic & Antique Fly-Fishing Tackle (New York: Lyons & Burford,1997), 197–98.

27. Arnold Gingrich, The Well-TemperedAngler (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965), 106.

28. Campbell, Classic & Antique Fly-Fishing Tackle, 199. The number after a Youngparabolic model indicates the ferrule size in1⁄64ths of an inch; e.g., the Para 15 had a 15⁄64-inchferrule.

29. Martin J. Keane, Classic Rods and Rod-makers (New York: Winchester Press, 1976), 156.

30. Richard Ben Cramer, What Do YouThink of Ted Williams Now? A Remembrance(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002), 101.

31. Williams with Underwood, My Turnat Bat: The Story of My Life, 56.

32. Williams and Underwood, Ted Wil-liams: Fishing “The Big Three,” 38.

33. Ibid., 58.34. Ibid.35. Ibid.; Paul H. Young, More Fishing Less

Fussing (Paul H. Young Co. catalog, privatelyprinted, 1952 or 1953), 16. This Young Co. tack-le catalog has a photograph of Lee Cuddy onthe cover with the 63-pound tarpon hecaught on a fly with a Paul Young bamboorod. Cuddy’s testimonial letter to Paul Youngis printed on page 16 of the catalog. Catalogmaterial courtesy of Bob Summers.

36. Cramer, What Do You Think of TedWilliams Now?, 52.

37. Charles Elliot, “I’m No Ted Williams,”in Danielle J. Ibister, ed., The Fly-Fishing An-thology (Stillwater, Minn.: Voyageur Press,Inc., 2004), 39–49. This essay first appeared inthe June 1951 issue of Outdoor Life.

38. Cramer, What Do You Think of TedWilliams Now?, 11.

39. Williams and Underwood, Ted Wil-liams: Fishing “The Big Three,” 9, 11.

40. George Reiger, ed., The UndiscoveredZane Grey Fishing Stories (Piscataway, N.J.:Winchester Press, 1983), xvi.

41. George X. Sand, Salt-Water Fly Fishing(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969), 6.

42. Montville, Ted Williams: The Biogra-phy of an American Hero, 312.

43. Bob Doerr, letter to author, 29 Sep-

tember 2004, and phone conversations.44. Zane Grey, Tales of Fresh-Water Fishing

(New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1928), 108–227.45. Ibid., 172.46. Reiger, The Undiscovered Zane Grey

Fishing Stories, 88.47. Quoted in Reiger, The Undiscovered

Zane Grey Fishing Stories, 90–91.48. Montville, Ted Williams: The Biogra-

phy of an American Hero, 308.49. Bob Doerr, letter to author, 29 Sep-

tember 2004, and phone conversations.50. Williams with Underwood, My Turn

at Bat: The Story of My Life, 38.51. Ron Swanson, e-mail to author, 22

December 2004. For many years, Swansonowned this Paul H. Young Parabolic 18 madefor Ted Williams in 1950. He provided a his-tory on the rod.

Postwar Paul Young rods were handmarked in ink with technical informationand, if custom made, with the owner’s namein Young’s usual printing. The penmanshipused to write Ted Williams and the date onWilliams’s 1950 Para 18 is unusual for a YoungCo. rod. Ron Swanson, the former owner,and Hoagy Carmichael, an expert on classicbamboo fly rods, contend that the script is anoriginal autograph based on comparisonswith Williams’s baseball card autographs.Stephen Brown was a close friend of TedWilliams for thirty years. Although Brown isnot a handwriting expert, he has seenWilliams’s genuine autograph on hundredsof baseball and fishing articles. Brown exam-ined the Williams signature in photographsof the 1950 rod, and it is his opinion that theTed Williams does not represent a genuineautograph by Williams. Doerr does notbelieve that Williams ever personally signed aYoung rod. There is, however, no questionabout the authenticity of this 1950 Para 18 asa Paul H. Young rod or that it was owned andused by Ted Williams.

52. Young, More Fishing Less Fussing (1952or 1953), 10, 19. Both photographs of TedWilliams were taken by Paul H. Young. Thesephotographs and one of Young himself, dated1 January 1951 (p. 16), indicate that the Youngsjoined Williams in the Keys during theChristmas/New Year holidays (1950–1951) forbonefishing.

53. The second photograph can also beseen on the current Young Co. website abovethe description of the Para 17 model;www.paulyoungrodco.com/therods1.htm.

54. Ron Swanson, e-mail to author, 22December 2004.

55. Quoted in Young, More Fishing LessFussing (1952 or 1953), 10.

56. Young, More Fishing Less Fussing(1952 or 1953), 2.

57. Edwin Pope, Ted Williams: The GoldenYear 1957 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1979), 11, and Stephen Brown, phoneconversation with author, 22 December 2004.Brown confirmed Williams’s fascination withtackle and his desire to have and develop thebest fishing equipment, which led to the for-mation of his own company. Williams subse-quently signed the lucrative contract withSears Roebuck and Co. and became head of

the Ted Williams Sears Advisory Staff.58. Young, More Fishing Less Fussing

(Paul H. Young Co. catalog, privately printed,1955 or 1956), 27. Catalog material courtesy ofBob Summers.

59. Montville, Ted Williams: The Biogra-phy of an American Hero, 239.

60. Bob Doerr, letter to author, 22December 2004.

61. Letter from Tom Ripp to JohnRandolph, editor, Fly Fisherman, 2 July 1990.

62. Bob Doerr, phone conversation withauthor, December 2004.

63. Letter from Tom Ripp to JohnRandolph, editor, Fly Fisherman, 2 July 1990.

64. Letter from Todd Young to Tom Ripp,12 June 1990. That year, Ripp organized andforwarded material on the Paul Young BobbyDoerr model rod for a proposed piece in FlyFisherman magazine. The article never mate-rialized. I was able to retrieve this unused,original material from editor/publisher JohnRandolph’s old files in October 2004.

65. Young, More Fishing Less Fussing(1955 or 1956), 27.

66. Mark Canfield, letter to author, 20November 2004. Canfield himself was draftedin 1972 by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a pitcherand first baseman but elected to pursue a suc-cessful career in crew at the University ofWashington. He once had the rare opportuni-ty to discuss hitting with Ted Williams byphone.

67. Ibid.68. Ernest Schwiebert, Trout, vol. 2 (New

York: E. P. Dutton, 1984), 1060.69. Paul H. Young, Making and Using the

Fly and Leader (Paul H. Young, privatelyprinted, 1938), 78.

70. Ernest Schwiebert, The CompleatSchwiebert (New York: Dutton, 1990), 372.

71. Ibid.72. Letter from Martin J. Keane to John A.

Feldenzer, 12 August 2004.73. Bob Summers, phone conversation

with author, December 2004.74. A Doerr rod sold in 1987 for $720

(Classic Rods & Tackle, no. 48, 1987, p. 12),another in 1993 for $1,200 (Classic Rods &Tackle, no. 63, 1993, p. 12), and the last in 2004for $2,000 (Classic Rods & Tackle, no. 88, 2004,p. 9).

75. Letter from Martin J. Keane to JohnA. Feldenzer, 2 December 2004.

76. Schwiebert, Trout, vol. 2, 1064.77. www.paulyoungrodco.com/therods1

.htm, at the description of the Parabolic 15.78. Young, More Fishing Less Fussing

(1952 or 1953), 29.79. Young, More Fishing Less Fussing

(1952 or 1953), 10.80. A. J. McClane, “Fishing Better—with

the Best,” Fly Fisherman (Spring 1976, vol. 7,no. 3), 67–82.

81. The Oregon Sashweight Society (found-ed in 1971) includes the following members(some deceased): Dee Carter (cofounder),Charlie Blake (cofounder), Al Schneller (whonamed the group), Bob Doerr, Ed McGah Jr.(who was a catcher for the Boston Red Sox in1946–1947), Tom Ripp, Lee Thornally, EdRotticci, Jim Wieking, Bud Sage, George

FALL 2005 13

Villa, Al Otter, Frank Mees, Mert Downing,Paul Doyle, and Blaine Hockeridge. Letterfrom Dee Carter to Tom Ripp, 5 May 1990.

82. Quoted in a letter from Tom Ripp toJohn Randolph, editor, Fly Fisherman, 2 July1990.

83. Schwiebert, Trout, vol. 2, 1061.84. Gingrich, The Well-Tempered Angler,

109.85. Ibid., 110.86. Ibid., 210.87. Spurr, Classic Bamboo Rodmakers

Past and Present, 70–71. The R. W. SummersCo., 90 River Road E., Traverse City, MI49686, www.rwsummers.com.

88. Keane, Classic Rods and Rodmakers,157.

89. Letter from Martin J. Keane to JohnA. Feldenzer, 2 December 2004.

90. Ibid.

91. Keane, Classic Rods and Rodmakers, 157.92. Cramer, What Do You Think of Ted

Williams Now?, 51–52.93. Quoted in Montville, Ted Williams:

The Biography of an American Hero, 366–67.94. Williams and Underwood, Ted Wil-

liams: Fishing “The Big Three,” 95.95. Richard Buck, Silver Swimmer (New

York, Lyons & Burford, 1993), ix.96. Cramer, What Do You Think of Ted

Williams Now?, 72.97. www.igfa.org/hall.asp#williams.98. Cramer, What Do You Think of Ted

Williams Now?, 106–10.99. “An Evening with Number 9 and

Friends: A Jimmy Fund Tribute to TedWilliams.” The Jimmy Fund video recording,10 November 1988.

100.Cramer, What Do You Think of TedWilliams Now?, 75, 77.

101. Halberstam, The Teammates, 79.102. Halberstam, Summer of ’49, 110.103. John M. Thompson, ed., History of the

Congress of Neurological Surgeons, 1951–1991(Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1992), 50–52.Poppen, in addition to being an excellentsurgeon, had been a fine athlete and playedprofessional baseball as a pitcher duringsummer vacations while in college and earlymedical school.

104. Grey, Tales of Fresh-Water Fishing,108.

105. Pat Smith, “On the Rogue Again,”Field & Stream Collector’s Edition (October1995), 69–73.

106.David Green, 101 Reasons to Love theRed Sox (New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang,2005), 42.

Bruce Beckman

Figure 14. Bobby Doerr and John Feldenzer fishing for largemouth bass on Lake Garcia,Florida, 17 March 2005. They are holding prototype fly- and bait-casting rods, developedby Ted Williams, that are being brought into production. Photo courtesy of Steve Brown.


ORAL HISTORIES CAN be useful incapturing the essential spirit of amuseum by preserving the re-

membrances of significant members ofits family. G. Richard Finlay was animportant participant in the early histo-ry of the American Museum of FlyFishing. Indeed, Margot Page, a formereditor of the American Fly Fisher, referredto Dick as an “inimitable saint” becauseof his numerous roles in the early historyof the Museum as well as his considerablevolunteer efforts. In October 2001, Iinterviewed Dick, en-couraging him to re-minisce about his lifeso that we can betterknow him and under-stand his many roles.He also helps to answersome significant ques-tions about the eventsin the founding of themuseum. This informa-tion, along with hisinsights into the muse-um’s character, will bevaluable in planning thepaths of future growthfor the Museum, whichrelies on volunteers.

One point to emergefrom Dick’s story is thatthe founding of themuseum and its earlysuccess was intertwinedwith the Orvis Com-pany and especially withthe foresight and busi-ness acumen of LeighPerkins. The Orvis business family notonly created the Museum, but the compa-ny provided considerable resources—space, staff, services, collection materials,and more. There was a synergy in thatOrvis viewed the Museum as a means toenhance its image and to promote saleswhile creating an institution that wouldpreserve a rich legacy of fly fishing inAmerica. There exists a commonly heardcriticism that the Museum is too closelytied to Orvis, indeed viewed as an Orvismuseum. There can be no question that

Orvis and the Museum are closely tied ina historical sense. Dick says, “There arecontrary characters around who’ll say‘Museum? Hell, that’s a part of Orvis.’They’ve got it backwards—Orvis is a partof fly-fishing history.”

Another point emerging from Dick’slife history is the importance of placewithin the context of a specific period oftime. Manchester and the BattenkillValley possessed an ambience that wasattractive to a number of people, espe-cially after World War II. Small-town

country living was a way of life desired bymany who chose not to be a part of thesuburban sprawl of northeastern Amer-ica. Dick, the Orvis Company, and theMuseum benefited immensely fromthese immigrants, and so did fly fishingand the bamboo fly rod.

BIOGRAPHY

Dick Finlay was born in 1922 at 127Gates Avenue in Montclair, New Jersey.The family lived there until 1936, when

his father retired from his import/exportbusiness in New York City and theymoved to Essex Junction, Vermont.Mallets Bay, on Lake Champlain north ofBurlington, had always been a haven forthe Finlays because Grandfather Finlaybought a farm there in 1903, and theyspent summer vacations and winter hol-idays there. Dick’s father and aunts firstlived in tents, then built family cottages.This experience created a lifelong loveaffair with water for Dick.

Dick’s early education was at the pri-vate, progressive Brook-side School in NewJersey. When the familymoved to Vermont, hewent to the BerkshireSchool in Sheffield,Mass-achusetts, graduating in1939. He then enteredWilliams College in Wil-liamstown, Massachu-setts, majoring in chem-istry. During that time,Dick’s parents moved toGreat Barrington to beclose to Sheffield andWilliamstown.

The Williams educa-tion was a somewhatintensified program be-cause of the war, allow-ing him to graduate inFebruary 1943. WhenDick was in the service,he met his wife, Adele,at a party at the Wil-liams Club in New York,where she was a hostess.

He said her great gift of gab and socialgraces won his heart: “It was a mostromantic time.” They were married inNovember 1946 after he returned fromthe service in June.

DICK FINLAY, WATERMAN

After Adele and his family, skiing andfly fishing were the two passions inDick’s life. Regardless of his occupationor the jobs he held, he always managed tofind time to ski or fish (it’s fortunate that

Fly Fishing, Skiing,Orvis, and the Museum:

Dick Finlay, the First Volunteerby Gerald Karaska

One of the Museum’s first boards of trustees, 1970. First row from left: DickFinlay, Dudley C. “Ducky” Corkran, Alvin Grove, Ted Rogowski, Wes

Jordan. Second row: Milford K. Smith, Hermann Kessler, Clayton Shappy,Leigh Perkins, Donald Dubois, Raymond Kotrla. Third row: Austin Hogan,

Ben Schley, Jane Gingrich, Arnold Gingrich, and Harry Darbee.

Hermann Kessler

FALL 2005 15

both did not occur during the same sea-son).

Dick says he likes to remember his lifeas a love affair with water. He recalls hisfirst experience as a toddler with a smallstream he played in that ran as a gutter,above and below ground, in front of hishouse in suburbia. Next were the memo-rable summers on Mallets Bay with hisextended family—swimming, fishing,sailing, rowing—and he notes that hehas “played in rivers and ponds eversince.” As an adult and professional, hewas very active in the politics of riverconservation on the Battenkill for years.Further, his many and varied occupationshave included work at the OrvisCompany, numerous fishing magazines,Battenkill Canoe Ltd. (guiding canoetrips), and teaching fly fishing and skiing.

Grandfather Finlay and Dick’s fatherfished Mallets Bay from a white launchnamed Ouinaniche to hit the hot spotsfor smallmouth bass, using fly rods withlive bait. Dick remembers his grandfa-ther having purchased a Mills Standard, 9-foot bamboo fly rod made by the H. L.Leonard Rod Company, which waspassed down to Dick’s father and eventu-ally to Dick (Dick has recently refinishedthe treasure). The Finlays were upper-middle-class suburbanites whose hob-bies included fishing and duck hunting(on Barnegat Bay), so the outdoor tradi-tion was strong. Dick’s first fly-fishingtrip was with his brother in 1940 on theGreen River in Massachusetts. He startedto fly fish in earnest when he joinedOrvis, especially on the Mettawee River,which ran through his property inDorset, and later on the Battenkill.

He began skiing in 1932 at age ten inNew Jersey, but took up the sport seri-ously during Christmas vacations withhis mother and siblings in the woodsaround Mallets Bay. Later, they frequent-ly skied at Stowe, when skiing was justgrowing. “It got into my blood.”

MILITARY SERVICE:MORE SKIING

Between graduation in February 1943and entering active duty in April, Dickwas in Manchester, Vermont, working atSnow Valley. The attraction was skiing,but he worked as a “go-for” in the restau-rant, carting groceries and hauling skiersup and down the mountain. This was awonderful experience because SnowValley and Bromley had hired membersof the famous Sun Valley, Idaho, resort,and Dick had a chance to ski with phe-nomenal European skiers. He got toknow the renowned ski movie producer,John Jay, who was on the headquartersstaff of the ski troops. At his father’s

direction, Dick had enrolled in OfficerCandidate School to become an aviationcadet. But Dick made a request to JohnJay that he be transferred to the skitroops; the reply was “yes,” and it wasdone.

Active duty began in April 1943 atCamp Edison in Sea Girt, New Jersey,with cryptographic training in the SignalCorps. Dick wound up in Camp Hale,Colorado, which was the base for the skitroops and their mountain and winterwarfare training. Thus, he spent the win-ter camping and skiing in the Rockiesand teaching “southern boys” how to ski.“It was a wonderful year,” he said. One ofhis fellow instructors, Wendy Cram, wasalso from Vermont, and they have beengood friends ever since.

Instead of going abroad with the skitroops, he signed up for the SignalCorps, Officer Candidate School. Whenhe graduated, policy mandated that hecould not return to his old outfit, so heended up in the South Pacific with 6thArmy Headquarters north of Manila,helping to plan the invasion of Japan.With the end of the war, he went to Japanwith the Army of Occupation, and therehe did manage to make one ski trip tothe island of Sapporo.

He was discharged in June 1946.

THE START OF A CAREER

Immediately after returning to thestates, he went back to Snow Valley, pick-ing up where he left off (his passion forskiing), working on the ski trails. Theowner of Snow Valley also owned theWorthy Inn in Manchester Village. Justbefore the Labor Day weekend, the sec-ond cook quit, so Dick was given thatjob: making salads, washing dishes, “youname it, and I did it.” This wasn’t oner-ous because Dick wanted to be in the skibusiness, and such a career required thathe learn to be an innkeeper.

He married Adele in November, andthey moved into a small, second-floorapartment a few doors from the WorthyInn with all of their worldly goods:radio/phonograph, five silver place set-tings, and a bottle of Jim Beam. Within aweek of arriving in Manchester Village,Adele got a job as secretary at the OrvisCompany, up the street.

That winter was without early snow,and Snow Valley laid off all its employ-ees; Dick was out of a job. He then wentto work for Jack Ortlieb, who owned theOrvis Inn (which also had the food con-cession at Bromley). This became hisdaily routine: first thing in the morning,he shoveled coal into the furnace, thentook the truck down to the baker forrolls, went next door to pick up ham-

burger meat, hauled these items up toBromley, and then worked for the chef inthe Bromley kitchen.

After a big nor’easter, the upper slopewas so snowed in that the J-bar liftwouldn’t work. The mountain’s managerwent to the basement and ordered the skipatrol to go up the mountain and shovelout the lift. They said no; they were firedon the spot. The manager then went intothe kitchen and, knowing that Dick was askier, said, “Finlay, you’re now head ofthe ski patrol. Go out and shovel out theupper J-bar,” which he did. He workedthe final half of the winter, and when thesnow was gone he worked on the trails,especially the upper part of the moun-tain. He was paid $48 for a 60-hour week.

Adele told Dick that Wes Jordan waslooking for help in the Orvis factory, andhe took the job in the spring of 1947,making $35 a week plus GI Bill benefitsof $15, totaling $50. “Enough of this inn-keeping nonsense.” He told Wes that heknew nothing about rodmaking butended up making bamboo rod joints inthe basement.

Two years later, in 1949, Dick Ketcham,who had been number two in the office,left Orvis. Dick took the job: order clerk,sales manager, credit manager, costaccountant, and assorted other tasks. Healso did outdoor shows around theUnited States, as well as wrote copy anddid the layout for the catalog. Dick at-tributes the reason he moved up into theoffice was that he “was good office help.”

After ten years, Dick felt that he hadgone as far as he could go and was notmaking enough money. He left Orvis andwent on the road for a chemical companyfor four years, selling industrial chemi-cals in western New England. (He soldchemicals to museum Art Director SaraWilcox’s grandfather for their dairyfarm.) This new job gave him ample op-portunity in spring, summer, and fall tofish most of the rivers in Vermont andwestern New Hampshire.

In 1961, owner Ducky Corkran askedhim to come back to Orvis—at an in-crease in pay. Dick became vice presidentand general manager. Dick proceeded tohire other people for the office, mostnotably Bill Cairns, Mary Sprague,Clayton Shappy, and Anne Secor.

In 1964, Leigh Perkins phoned andasked to speak with Dick (Dick had soldhim an 81⁄2-foot, three-piece Battenkillrod when Leigh was still at WilliamsCollege, and he had been a hunting andfishing buddy of Dick’s brother). Dicksaid, “Hi Leigh, how are you? Do youwant another rod?” Leigh said, “No, Iwant to buy your company.” Dickreplied, “It’s not for sale, but we’d like totalk about it.”


As negotiations proceeded, there wasa difference of $100,000 in the price.Dick suggested to Leigh that he makeDucky chairman of the board for fiveyears at $12,000 per year. Leigh Perkinspurchased Orvis in 1965, and Ducky ac-cepted the position of chairman, spend-ing time “sitting at the raggedy desk thatDick once used” (it is now in use at theMuseum).

Dick knew Leigh and fondly remem-bers one of Leigh’s visits to Dick’s houseto hunt deer, up in Kirby Hollow, withDick’s brother Pete. “Leigh was the onlyguy I knew who sat on a deer stand witha French book.”

FINLAY, ORVIS,AND THE MUSEUM

Dick Finlay was a principal actor inthe founding of the museum for threereasons: one, he was a senior administra-tor at Orvis during the period from 1961to 1971; two, he had a personality andstyle that allowed him to exert influenceon the direction and growth of theMuseum; and three, he was deeply com-mitted to the mission of the museum.

The important factors to consider arenot only how the museum came intoexistence and grew significantly in thatearly, critical period, but also the intrigu-ing relationships between Leigh Perkins,the Orvis Company, and the museum.What follows are Dick’s recollections ofthe events.

Dick cannot point to specific ordersor directions from Leigh Perkins to himor other Orvis staff that they should per-form certain tasks for the museum. The

contributions of Orvis were consider-able: gallery space, office space, collec-tion space, most of the expenses, andsecretarial, managerial, accounting, andmany other services. What happened canonly be surmised as the spirit, élan, orcollegiality of a small business under theleadership of a dynamic and imaginativeowner in a rural setting. Each employeehad his/her job, but each also con-tributed to other tasks. In Leigh Perkins’srecent book, A Sportsman’s Life (NewYork: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999), it isvery clear that he “empowered” his em-ployees. He ensured that each employeecould solve any customer’s problem.Further, if the employee found a way toimprove a product, Perkins’s policy wasto reward him or her, often by promotingfrom within.

There is a now-famous story of Dickmeeting with Her-mann Kessler in thesummer of 1963. Her-mann was doing re-search for an articlefor Field & Stream,which resulted in atwo-page, four-colorphotographic spreadof the new Orvisstore. Dick explainsthe reason for thearticle was that earli-er the magazine dida piece on bamboorodmakers and cameup to Orvis, takingpictures of rodmak-ing down in the base-

ment. But when the article came out,there was not one mention of Orvis; allthe copy and photos referred to the H. L.Leonard Rod Company. “Well, I can hearhim now. Ducky got Hugh Grey, the edi-tor of Field & Stream, on the telephoneand chewed him up and down andaround and around.” Hermann Kesslerwas making amends for the gaffe bycoming to Orvis and researching a newarticle. Hermann and Dick were thusdigging in the attic of Orvis, finding allkinds of “old stuff up there.”

Before that attic adventure, Dickclaims that he never heard of any refer-ence to the historic value of the Orvismaterial—never from Ducky or anyoneelse. In fact, Dick has some sad tales ofthings that were thrown away or sold forpeanuts. The Kessler meeting did resur-rect the multipanel display of Orvis fliesand photos that were exhibited at theChicago World’s Fair in 1893; they be-came the centerpiece of the museum’sopening in the new Orvis store. Dickremembers buying some special solutionat the hardware store and cleaning everywooden frame of all the “gunk of a hun-dred years.” (“A curator must weep atthis action.”) The original flies tied forthe color plates in Mary Orvis Marbury’sbook, Famous Flies and Their Histories,were also put on display.

Dick suggests that the failure to recog-nize the value of the Orvis material or theidea for a museum is that Ducky Corkranand his employees (Dick included) wererather naive; they were caught up withthe issue of survival and growth of thecompany.

From 1963 (the Kessler-Finlay meet-ing) to the historic meeting of Kesslerand Perkins in 1966, when Kessler ap-proached Perkins with the idea that amuseum be established, Dick still hadnot heard any mention of the historic

Ted Ferree (left) and Dick Finlay work in the basementof the museum’s Seminary Avenue home.

AMFF file photo

Dick Finlay (center) rubs elbows with Leigh and Romi Perkins ata reception celebrating the reopening of the museum’s galleries in 1984.

AMFF file photo

FALL 2005 17

value of the materials, nor any inkling ofa museum. However, Dick provides someexplanation of why the birth of the muse-um may have taken place. When Perkinsworked in Cleveland, he was on the boardof the Cleveland Museum of NaturalHistory and thus was well versed in themission and workings of a museum.

The museum was founded in 1967, andneither Dick nor any other principal Orvisemployees—Baird Hall, Anne Secor, AnnSheridan, and Laura Towsley—that he isaware of were involved in the decision.But once it got started, Dick “had hishands full.” Dick said that Leigh never gaveinstructions to anyone that they shouldwork on Museum activities. “Leigh neverpointed a finger andsaid, this is your res-ponsibility.” The hoursdevoted to the mu-seum by Dick andother employees wereconsiderable and thecosts substantial. Noone, least of all Leigh,ever commented orcriticized the activi-ties. Dick’s comments:“We just did it”;“Leighwas hands off”; “Themuseum seemed tojust amble along”; “Itwas like a foster childwith a lot of adoptedparents.”

The first museumdinner at the WilliamsClub in New York in1979 was arranged byDick, who also ac-quired the auction items. He did the samein 1985 for the next dinner and auction atthe Yale Club. Both auctions were very suc-cessful.

LIFE AFTER ORVIS

Dick left Orvis in 1972 (after one yearas registrar at the museum). He went towork at a ski shop on the road up themountain during the week and taughtskiing on weekends.

In 1972, he got hooked up with abunch of skiers and promoters, and theybuilt a nightclub on the mountain road.Called the Roundhouse, it was an octag-onal building, 80 feet in diameter withtwo stories. He wound up working theredoing all sorts of jobs, but it was “a wilddream, a financial disaster.” He relatesthat the principal partner, who ownedthe Avalanche Hotel across the highway,“had his hand in our pockets.” They suedand settled for a modest sum. Dickwound up buying the place, because hehad the largest share of the investment,

and he was straddled with a huge mort-gage. Later, he said, when he sold it, “Ilost my ass and my hearing in the seven-ties nightclub business.” He recalls onewinter month when the electric bill was$1,200.

In the late 1970s, Don Zahner, whostarted Fly Fisherman magazine as pub-lisher and editor, invited Dick to join thestaff as executive publisher and sales rep-resentative. The office was located in theback of Zahner’s house in Dorset. JohnMerwin, who had a farm in central Ver-mont and was a writer, joined the staff aseditor. Subsequently, Dick lost his job toZahner’s cousin Jim. He then worked assales representative for the advertising

agency who represented Fly Fisherman.Ziff Davis bought the magazine, andDick and Merwin were out of work. Johnthen started another magazine, Rod andReel, for which Dick sold advertising, aswell as for a trade publication, Fly TackleDealer. These positions resulted in Dicktraveling a lot, all over the United States,making sales calls and visiting trade shows(also doing some fishing). But this got tobe too much, and he retired in 1985, atage sixty-three.

Dick continued working for Orvis inthe fly-fishing school teaching knot tyingand casting. And, significantly, he alsodid considerable volunteer work for themuseum; fondly, or not so fondly, heremembers acquiring the shelving for thelarge book collection and moving it all tothe new fuseum building in 1984.

Dick’s attachment to Manchester andthe valley has been very strong through-out his adult life. He was active in thecivic life of the area, beginning in 1972 aszoning administrator on the zoningboard of adjustment for the Village of

Manchester. Later he was president ofthe board of trustees for the village.

Dick Finlay never lost his love forwater, and although he still fished theBattenkill, he also devoted considerabletime to the river’s conservation pro-grams on habitat enhancement and riverstabilization. One accomplishment wasthe continuation of the Battenkill Con-servancy. That organization had beensuccessful in halting large-scale develop-ment on a beautiful, quiet stretch of theriver. Dick then took the name of theconservancy in a major effort to solvesome of the multiple uses of the river,devoting a lot of effort to communityrelations in conflict resolution.

After Adele died inOctober 1996, Dickmoved to Hyde Parkin the Northeast King-dom in 1998 to becloser to his son Bob.Today, he still fishes innearby rivers, skis withthe 55+ Club at Smug-gler’s Notch, and par-ticipates in conserva-tion efforts on localrivers.

THE FIRSTVOLUNTEER

There have beennumerous volunteersin the brief history ofthe museum. Somehave had leadershiproles as officers andtrustees. Many others

have offered their energies at dinner/auc-tions. A few have devoted considerabletime to the museum’s day-to-day func-tions. And a very few were important cat-alysts in the early years of the establish-ment of the institution. Dick Finlay wasall of the above.

It is difficult to explain the motives ofthese dedicated volunteers—what in-spires them to work so hard for a smallmuseum that does not have widespreadrecognition and wherein the rewards areessentially personal and introspective.The common denominator of fly fishingis certainly one of the reasons, but theremust be more to it.

Dick Finlay was the museum’s firstvolunteer. He still returns to Manchesterfor museum functions. For almost sixtyyears, he has unselfishly given his spiritas conservator and keeper of a heritage.

!

Dick Finlay, the perennial promoter, at the Museum during its Seminary Avenue days.

AMFF file photo


A Grand Day OutKathleen Achor

Kathleen Achor

ON A MUGGY SATURDAY in June, it became official: theAmerican Museum of Fly Fishing was back in business.Of course, in reality the museum’s galleries and gift shop

opened in early October 2004, but it was on 11 June 2005 that wecelebrated the museum’s new home with a day of outdoor fes-tivities as well as a bona fide ribbon-cutting ceremony.

It was a day long anticipated by the museum’s staff andmembership. Regular readers of this journal who followed themuseum’s progress from the initial move to the constructionand renovation of its new quarters know what a lengthy, chal-lenging, and at times daunting process it was. Yet none of usever doubted that we would somehow reach this day, this mo-ment, and celebrate the culmination of a nearly three-yearjourney. Indeed, way back when this all began, I wrote aboutthe move from our old building, saying: “Above all, it was asexciting a time for the Museum as it was a difficult one, thepromise of the end result keeping us (most of the time) fromfeeling completely overwhelmed by the challenges of gettingthere” (Fall 2002).

Now, at long last, that promise has been fulfilled. The endresult not only met but exceeded all of our hopes and expecta-tions. And so there was finally just one more thing left for all ofus to do: have fun.

SARA WILCOX

Trustees John Rano, Gardner Grant, and Peter Corbin did a little casting on the small pondadjacent to the museum’s new archival building.

James Hardman

Katie Kristensen, Taylor Kristensen, and Molly Perkins notonly had the best lemonade in town, but also donated ten

percent of their earnings for the day to the museum.

Above: Kid’n Around gave our youngervisitors opportunities to try their hands

at some fun activities.

Left: Museum staffers Lori Pinkowski,Sara Wilcox, and Becky Nawrath.

Kathleen Achor

FALL 2005 19

Kathleen Achor

Kathleen Achor

Kathleen Achor

James Hardman

James Hardman Counterclockwise from top left:

British School of Falconry instructor Dawn Kelly introducedfestival attendees to Elsie, an African tawny eagle.

Artist Luther Hall (left) chatted with one of themany visitors who stopped by on Saturday.

Walt Hoetzer of Battenkill Outfitters and someof the unique rods he brought for display.

Jim Clune, along with some fellow members of the GreenMountain Fly Tiers, volunteered time to help

demonstrate various tying methods.

Standing just outside of the main tent, Interim Director YoshiAkiyama tested out one of rodmaker Jim Becker’s creations.


James Hardman

A crowd gathers to watch Saturday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Fred Kretchman explains the nuances of bamboorodmaking to a fascinated festival attendee.

Trustees Allan Poole, Jamie Woods, Ernest Schwiebert,and George Gibson grab some lunch aftera long morning of committee meetings.

Above and right: David Walsh, Bob Scott, and Yoshi Akiyama cut the ribbon to officially reopen

the American Museum of Fly Fishing.

Kathleen Achor

James Hardman

James Hardman

FALL 2005 21

James Hardman

Right: Legendary reelmaker StanBogdan with the five reels he graciously

offered to the museum to help ourfund-raising efforts. Also pictured is aleather case custom made by Robert

Cochran to house the entire set.

Inset: Stan Bogdan and TrusteeRichard Tisch during a trustee

gathering at the museum on Friday,June 10. The next evening RichardTisch was the lucky raffle winner

of the five Bogdan reels.

Rodmaker Fred Kretchman and Sam Urtz.

Stan Bogdan (left) chats with museum staff memberBecky Nawrath and her husband Mike before

the Saturday evening dinner begins.

Museum friends Peter Castagnetti and Docille Chouinard.

Kathleen Achor

Kathleen Achor

James Hardman


GOOD EVENING. It is a privilege tospeak tonight.

Our little museum has reacheda milestone of which everyone may beproud. The unbuilding and rebuilding ofits new quarters are complete. We gatherin celebration of this accomplishment,and we have reached a turning point in anodyssey that has plagued curators sinceour Pleistocene ancestors first began tocollect their spear points and arrowheadsand flensing scrapers as artifacts—wehave space to showcase the quiet riches ofour collection.

Many people have been involved.We must pay tribute to Yoshi Akiyama

and the museum staff for their obviousskills and for the exemplary quality ofour publications—both are critical for

the certification of our museum inscholarly circles—and for providing thekeel under our sailboat in troubledwaters. We must acknowledge LeighPerkins and Gardner Grant for theirremarkable generosity and stewardshipacross thirty-five years. They sustainedus in times when our sailboat was closeto foundering. And we must cite thehusbandry of Robert Scott and MichaelOsborne, who were at the helm through-out reconstruction, and the third pillarof their triumvirate, Nancy Mackinnon.

Our celebration tonight is intended tosavor what we have achieved. But it isalso a time for retrospection, for lookingback toward our roots. This has been mythird tour as a trustee, in a gestation thatreaches back almost forty-five years.

Leigh Perkins was again our benefactor,offering space in his store for displays,and graciously overlooking lost revenuesuch space might have generated.

But we did not begin here.We began in New York during the in-

formal Wednesday lunches of the Mid-town Turf, Yachting and Polo Associa-tion, a nefarious assemblage of editorsand writers who believed there was greatneed, in these contentious times, for anorganization utterly without officers,trustees, or official membership, andhaving no visible civic purpose.

We were not as stuffy as our title.Turf referred not to horse racing, but

to the peaty iodine-saturated Scottishsoils involved in making the strongestpot-still whiskies. None of us could

Remarks on the Opening ofthe American Museum of Fly Fishing

11 June 2005by Ernest Schwiebert

Ernest Schwiebert (above) is a trustee of the museum and author of such esteemed titles as Matching theHatch (1955), Remembrances of Rivers Past (1972), Nymphs: A Complete Guide to Naturals and

Imitations (1973), and Trout, volumes I and II (1978, 1984). He was the featured speaker at the celebratorydinner held on the occasion of the grand opening of the American Museum of Fly Fishing’s new headquarters.

Jim Hardman

FALL 2005 23

afford a yacht, perhaps with the excep-tion of Arnold Gingrich, but Yachtingwas included because it sounded good.Our Polo had nothing to do with thegame played on horseback, chasing a ballwith mallets, across Smith’s Lawn atWindsor Great Park. It was included tocelebrate Marco Polo, who still holds theall-time record for years spent awayfrom his wife while purportedly offshooting and fishing.

I was invited to join in 1959.We were too busy talking and laugh-

ing to understand that in the universe ofshooting and fishing, we were evolvinginto something like the literary RoundTable at the Algonquin.

You remember our membership, per-haps as the shooting and fishing heroesof our youth: Red Smith, when he wasstill the principal sportswriter for the oldNew York Herald Tribune; RaymondCamp and Jack Randolph of the NewYork Times; Arnold Gingrich and the artdirector John Groth of Esquire; the sto-ried shooting editors Jack O’Connor ofOutdoor Life and Warren Page at Field &Stream; Field & Stream’s later editors-in-chief, Clare Conley and Jack Samson;and the jester king who held court on itsback pages, Edward Geary Zern. LeeWulff was a fledgling filmmaker newlyworking in television and not often intown. James Cornwall Rikhoff was chiefof public relations for the WinchesterRepeating Arms Company and becamefounder of its Winchester Press. Othersincluded an art director at Sports Il-lustrated who became the Labradorretriever historian, Richard Wolters, andmy longtime Princeton neighbor, GeneAdkins Hill.

Our museum began during their mid-week lunches, and I remember the weekthat Herman Kessler, who was art direc-tor at Field & Stream for thirty-odd years,arrived to propose something importantto our boisterous circle, in a cramped lit-tle room at the top of the scullery stairsover Manny Wolf ’s, which has since be-come Smith & Wollensky.

Kessler was a tiny man with huge eye-glasses, and his wife was the great profes-sional fly dresser, Helen Shaw. Our ban-ter and backslapping and joke tellingfinally ebbed, as lunch began to arrivefrom the steamy depths of the kitchen.Gingrich rapped a water glass, once wehad all been served, and quietly an-nounced that Kessler had an importanttopic. It was perilously close to betrayinga philosophy of no civic purpose what-soever, but we grudgingly settled intounaccustomed silence.

He proposed a museum of fly fishing.Many of these Midtowners became

involved in the fledgling years of the

museum, and both Gingrich and Zernbecame founding trustees. Other earlytrustees included the Dorset-basedfounding publisher of Fly Fisherman,Donald Zahner; the Vermont painterChurchill Ettinger; and the quiet NewYork banker and poetic fly-fishing writerDana Storrs Lamb.

We are not alone tonight.Our banquet tent is filled with a felic-

ity of ghosts.Two other faithful trustees who served

through our entire evolution must besingled out: our longtime colleagueRichard Finley, and a former New Yorkadvertising man who escaped to Vermontand became a poet and woodcarver,William Herrick.

We have traveled some distance sincethose conceptual beginnings and ourcubbyhole roots off the first barn-redPerkins store. Our little museum has be-come an important institution, notmerely as a repository of dead artifactsfrom the past. Nostalgia and sentimen-tality are perhaps inevitable humantraits, but they are the antithesis ofscholarship, and perhaps of honest emo-tion itself.

Our purpose cannot be warm-in-the-tummy feelings about the past, becausesuch feelings are largely passive. Themuseum at its apogee can provide thescholarship to separate the great artisansand conceptual thinkers of our sportfrom those who are merely colorful andpopular. And its artifacts are not en-tombed when they become unforgivingyardsticks of excellence for those futureartisans and writers who entertain loftyaspirations of their own.

Our milestone tonight is perhaps aturning point. We shall always needfund-raising to sustain the interminableneeds of staffing and everyday museumoperations, and the acquisition of futureartifacts worthy of our collections. Butour paradigm is changing. We still haveimportant voids in our collections, andexhibits to design, and with our museumup and running now, it is time for thequiet alchemy of curatorial skills andscholarship and elegant glass vitrines,each informed with the solemn probityof history.

I will conclude with a story.My obsession with fishing began in

childhood, watching bluegills and pump-kinseeds and perch under a rickety dock,below a simple cedar-shingled cottage insouthern Michigan. My obsession withtrout began there too, when my motherdrove north into town for groceries, andtook me along with a promise of choco-late ice cream. We crossed a stream thatwas utterly unlike those near Chicago,fetid and foul-smelling, or choked with

the silts of farm-country tillage. Itflowed swift and crystalline over a bot-tom of ochre cobblestones and pebbles,and like Hemingway’s Big Two-HeartedRiver, it mysteriously disappeared intothickets of cedar sweepers downstream.

And a man was fishing.The current was smooth, but it tum-

bled swiftly around his legs. It was a dif-ferent kind of fishing, utterly unlikewatching a red-and-white bobber on atepid childhood pond, with its lily padand cattail margins, and its callings ofred-winged blackbirds. His amber lineworked back and forth in the sunlight,and he dropped his fly on the waterbriefly, only to tease it free of the currentand strip the moisture from its barbuleswith more casting. It was more like thegrace of ballet than fishing.

And then the man hooked a fish.My mother called to the angler, and

gave me permission to run and see hisprize. I remember getting my feet muddyand wet, with a Biblical plague of cockle-burs at my ankles, but it did not matter.The fish was still in the man’s landingnet, and he raised it dripping and shin-ing in his hand. It was a brook trout ofsix inches, its dorsal surfaces dark withblue and olive vermiculations, and itsflanks clouded with dusky parr mark-ings. Its belly and lower fins were a brighttangerine, with edgings of alabaster andebony, and it gleamed like a jeweler’s trayof opals and moonstones and rubies. Ihad witnessed something beautiful, andI wanted to be part of it.

People often ask why I fish, and afterseventy-odd years of sport, I am startingto understand.

I fish because of Beauty.Everything about our sport is beauti-

ful. Its more than five centuries of man-uscripts and books and folios are beauti-ful. Its artifacts of rods and beautifullymachined reels are beautiful. Its oldwading staffs and split-willow creels, andthe delicate artifice of its flies, are beau-tiful. Dressing such confections of fur,feathers, and steel is beautiful, and ourworktables are littered with gorgeousscraps of tragopan and golden pheasantand blue chatterer and Coq de Leon. Thebest of sporting art is beautiful. Theriverscapes that sustain the fish arebeautiful. Our methods of seeking themare beautiful, and we find ourselvesenthralled with the quicksilver poetry ofthe fish themselves.

And in our contentious time of parti-san hubris, selfishness, and outrightmendacity, Beauty itself may prove themost endangered thing of all.

!


Poems Read on the Occasion ofthe Opening of the American

Museum of Fly Fishingby William F. Herrick

As trustees, staff, and guests celebrated the opening of the museum at a celebratory dinner on June 11, they were treated to areading of two poems by Trustee Bill Herrick, especially chosen for the occasion. We would like to include them here.

“Getting Down to Basics” appears in William F.Herrick’s In the Vicinity of Rivers (Manchester, Vt.:Phyllis and William F. Herrick, 1989). “At the Bea-verkill” appears in William F. Herrick’s CarvingMyself: Poems from a Vermont Woodcarver (Man-chester, Vt.: Phyllis and William F. Herrick, 1977).Illustrations from P. Fisher, The Angler’s Souvenir(London: Charles Tilt, 1835).

Trustee Emeritus Bill Herrick (center) joins TrusteesErnest Schwiebert (left) and Gardner Grant (right) at

the museum’s grand opening weekend festivities.

Getting Down to BasicsWhen the eaglescratches your eye

and the dead corn-cribreminds you of Auschwitz,

When the dove keensin the cold rays of the sunand there is no leaded framefor the bright pieces of glass,

Sit under the elm, listento the determined downey

sharpen his beak on therusted spine of the old barn;

Go down to the riverand watch brown trout

sip from surfaces of glassthe corpora of stoneflies,

And ask yourselfone or two basic questions.

At the BeaverkillRivers shatter me.

Staring into winter’s greening vein, this once and only faithful love breaks my heart again, again.Willows blooming at her side

are yellow as a child’s dream of trees, held up in flowers green and blue, happy as a dance of bees.We saw ourselves as rivers are: bare open windows of the sun,

reflecting portraits of the sky, filled with stone and running on.

Seen by lovers such as we, through sparkling mirrors sliding by,

life’s a gleam of sighing streams, flood in winter, summer dry.

Jim Hardman

FALL 2005 25

Grand OpeningOur grand opening celebration was

indeed grand. In spite of the blisteringheat, more than two hundred peoplejoined in the festivities of the day, whichincluded fly tyers Bill Newcomb, JimClune, and Bill Chandler; rodbuildersJim Becker and Fred Kretchman; famedartist Luther Hall; award-winning fishcarver Kurt Vitch; many local craftspeo-ple; and interactive activities for the kids.People streamed in and out among thevendors, stopping here and there to lookover the various products while listeningto bluegrass music and snacking on sal-mon burgers (as well as plain old ham-burgers and hot dogs). A lemonade standwas set up by local schoolchildren, and atthe end of the day, they donated ten per-cent of their profits to the museum—anice surprise!

At noon the ribbon-cutting ceremonypromptly took place on the front steps ofthe museum. Chairman of the Board BobScott spoke of the progress the museumhas made over the years. He took greatpride in stating that the vision of a newmuseum, several years in the making,had finally been transformed into a glar-ing reality. President Dave Walsh andInterim Executive Director Yoshi Akiyamatightly held the ribbon while Bob cut itto mark the beginning of a new and excit-ing future for the museum. A round ofapplause echoed throughout the crowd.

It was a profitable day for our giftshop, the Brookside Angler. Many of thewhimsical and unique fishing-relateditems we carry quickly sold, leaving intheir wake an exhausted but elated salesteam.

Clear skies for the evening’s barbecuedinner allowed guests to mingle by thepond while enjoying fanciful hors d’oeu-vres and fine wines donated by QuiveraWinery.

The long-awaited raffle drawing fol-lowed the fine barbecue fare, with TrusteeJohn Rano as emcee. Suspense filled theair as the names were being drawn forthe various raffle items. Trustee SteveBenardete won the two-day fly-fishingschool with Orvis, local businessmanArnie Bean was the winner of the hand-made birdhouse by Peter Palmer, and

museum member John Shanahan wasthe fortunate winner of two tickets toHildene’s garden party. The crowd thenanxiously awaited the drawing for theJames Prosek original watercolor and theset of five Stan Bogdan reels.

Trustee Duke Buchan III won themuch-coveted watercolor. Trustee RichardTisch was the lucky winner of the Bogdanreels and the fine leather case custommade for them by Robert Cochrane.Richard was pleasantly surprised by hisgood fortune and is grateful to have sucha sought-after collection of Bogdan reels.

The response to the Bogdan raffle wasmost warming and in keeping withStan’s reputation as the greatest livingreelmaker. Stan has fished with kings andprinces, yet he continues to manufacturehis reels with his son, Steve, on basicequipment, using time-proven tech-niques: careful hand fitting and handfinishing. We were honored to have Stanas our guest at our event. A very modestman, Stan instantly makes you feel com-fortable and makes friends very easily.

In addition, the Prosek raffle wasoverwhelmingly successful, as all onehundred tickets were quickly sold.Although James was unable to attendour dinner, he wished us great successwith the event and the future endeavorsat the museum.

Announcement ofAnnual Meeting

The annual meeting of the membersof the American Museum of Fly

Fishing will take place in Manchester,Vermont, at Hildene on Saturday,

29 October 2005, at 9:30 a.m.

Members will vote on the election ofnew trustees, officers, and any other

matters that may be presented. Mem-bers should contact the museum for a

copy of the agenda any time after15 October 2005, at (802) 362-3300.

The annual trustees’ meetingwill follow the members’

meeting at the same location.

TheAmerican Museumof Fly FishingBox 42, Manchester,Vermont 05254Tel: (802) 362-3300. Fax: (802) 362-3308E-MAIL: [email protected]: www.amff.com

JO IN !Membership Dues (per annum)

I ND I V I DUA LAssociate $35International $50Sustaining $60Benefactor $125Patron $250

GROUPClub $50Trade $50

Membership dues include four issues ofThe American Fly Fisher. Please send yourpayment to the Membership Director and include your mailing address. TheMuseum is a member of the American Association of Museums, the AmericanAssociation of State and Local History, theNew England Association of Museums,the Vermont Museum and GalleryAlliance, and the International Associationof Sports Museums and Halls of Fame. Weare a nationally accredited, nonprofit, edu-cational institution chartered under thelaws of the state of Vermont.

SUPP ORT !As an independent, nonprofit institution,the American Museum of Fly Fishing relies on the generosity of public-spiritedindividuals for substantial support. We ask that you give our museum serious consideration when planning for gifts andbequests.

BACK I S SU E S !Available at $4 per copy:

Volume 6, Numbers 2, 3, 4Volume 7, Number 3Volume 8, Number 3Volume 9, Numbers 1, 2, 3Volume 10, Number 2Volume 11, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 13, Number 3Volume 15, Number 2Volume 16, Numbers 1, 2, 3Volume 17, Numbers 1, 2, 3Volume 18, Numbers 1, 2, 4Volume 19, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 20, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 21, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 22, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 23, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 24, Number 1, 2Volume 25, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 26, Numbers 1, 2, 4Volume 27, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 28, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 29, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4Volume 30, Numbers 1, 2, 3Volume 31, Numbers 1, 2, 3

We acknowledge with great apprecia-tion the contributors to our raffle,including James Prosek, the OrvisCompany, Hildene, Peter Palmer, and, ofcourse, Stan Bogdan.

Marketing NewsWe continue to move forward with

our marketing efforts. We are now focus-ing on promoting the gift shop andencouraging rental of the museum forsmall meetings and cocktail parties. Withfoliage season and the holidays comingup, this gives us the perfect opportunity.

At this writing, our website is stillbeing developed. The process has takenus longer than anticipated, but we guar-antee you’ll love the results. We hopeyou’ll be patient with us.

Next up on the drawing board will beour new brochure and trustee packet.Stay tuned for more details.

Recent Donations Charles A. Woods, M.D., of Easton,

Connecticut, donated an 8-foot, two-piece bamboo fly rod, maker unknown; a10-foot, three-piece wood Spey-castingrod, maker unknown, with a fourthshort tip piece to make it 8 feet, 6 inches;and a midsection part of unknown flyrod.

Denise Chamberlain Buchanan ofWashington, D.C., donated a 6-foot, 6-inch Chubb fly rod that belonged toHarold Drew, founder of the WaltonFishing Club; Carlson’s Mt. Carmel flyrod 75-5; an Edwards Quadrate 6-foot, 6-inch rod; an Edwards Quadrate 7-foot, 6-inch rod; a Hardy 8-foot, 6-inch“Palakona” rod; a Horrocks Ibbotson 9-foot rod; a Leonard 8-foot, 6-inch rod; aLeonard 6-foot rod; a Montague“Fishkill” 7-foot, 6-inch rod; an Orvis“99” 7-foot, 6-inch rod; an Orvis 6-foot,6-inch, two-piece fiberglass rod; aGolden Eagle 6-foot, 6-inch rod; aWinchester Arms 8-foot, 6-inch rod; an8-foot, two-piece bamboo rod made byWilliam Richardson; a 9-foot, 6-inchsalmon rod, maker unknown; and aFurnace Brook 8-foot, 6-inch rod.

In the LibraryThanks to the following publishers for

their donations of recent titles that havebecome part of our collection (all titleswere published in 2005, unless otherwisenoted):

The Lyons Press sent us John Ross’sTrout Unlimited’s Guide to America’s 100Best Trout Streams (updated and revised)and Lefty Kreh and Harry Middleton’sLefty’s Favorite Fly-Fishing Waters (2004).

Adrian Latimer sent us his self-pub-lished Wild Fishing in Wild Places (2001),Paradise Found: Travels with a Fly Rod(2002), and Northern Tails: An IcelandicFishing Odyssey (2003). All proceedsfrom sales of these books have gone tothe North Atlantic Salmon Fund.

The Medlar Press sent us MauriceGenevoix’s The Fishing Box (originallypublished in Paris in 1926), StanleySalmons’s A Bit of Irish Mist, and JohnLangridge’s Lizarralde: The Man WhoFished for Barbel. They also sent a copy ofthe spring 2005 issue of Waterlog.


Upcoming EventsSeptember 8–10Fly-Fishing Retailer ShowDenver, Colorado

October 26–27Friends of Peter Corbin ShootHudson FarmAndover, New Jersey

October 29Annual MeetingManchester, Vermont

November 3Hartford Dinner and Sporting

AuctionLocation TBA

November 12Winery Dinner and Sporting

AuctionMartini WineryNapa Valley, California

Spring 2006

New York Anglers’ Club Dinner and Sporting Auction

Cleveland Dinner and Sporting Auction

2006 Fly-Fishing Show ScheduleJanuary 20–22

Marlboro, MassachusettsJanuary 27–29

Somerset, New JerseyFebruary 4–5

Tinley Park, IllinoisFebruary 17–19

San Rafael, California

For information, contact LoriPinkowski at (802) 362-3300 orvia e-mail at [email protected]

DONORBRICKSAn opportunityto make a difference andbecome part of the newhome of the AmericanMuseum of Fly Fishing.

Bricks are $100 each.

Bricks may be purchased singly or in a series that can be placed together

to create a larger message.

Purchasers are free to put anything they like on their

bricks (no profanity).

Each brick is 4" x 8" and has room for three lines oftext of up to 20 characters per line. That does includespaces and punctuation— for example, putting “fly fishing rules!” on a brick would be 18 characters.

Call (802) 362-3300

FALL 2005 27

STUDENTS OF THE HISTORY of flyfishing have been much engagedwith a discussion of false casting, its

suggested origins in the mid-nineteenth

century, and its role in the developmentof the dry fly. We have customarilythought of false casting as a way of dry-ing the sodden fly and a way of length-ening the cast.

Let me call your attention now toWashington Irving’s The Sketch Book(1818) and his essay “The Angler.” Nearlyhalfway into this (I might say) originaland archetypical “fishing story,” we read:

I could not but remark the gallant man-ner in which he stumped from one partof the brook to another, waving his rodin the air to keep the line from draggingon the ground or catching among thebushes, and the adroitness with whichhe would throw his fly to any particularplace. . . .

Here we are, face to face, with the alltoo obvious but overlooked: false castingto manage the line in the air when mov-

ing from one spot to another, or tochange directions of the cast—and unre-lated to the origin of the dry fly. We’ve allbeen casting this way from time im-memorial, as though born to it.

I stand under correction, but to myknowledge this is the earliest mention offalse casting in the literature—recordedby Irving some time before 1818 and con-siderably before the advent of the knot-less line and rod guides.

I’m moved that America’s first fullyprofessional writer, and one of herfinest, would slip this passing but impor-tant note on the technology of fly castinginto what may well be the first modern“fishing story.”

Gordon M. Wickstrom of Boulder, Col-orado, is a professor of drama emeritus atFranklin and Marshall College and a fre-quent contributor to this journal.

N O T E S A N D C O M M E N T

Washington Irving

From

the

Lib

rary

of

Con

gres

s,re

prod

ucti

on n

umbe

r LC

-USZ62

-4238.

Phot

o ta

ken

by M

.B.B

rady

,186

1.

C O N T R I B U T O R S

Gerald Karaska is a retired professor of geography from Clark University. For thelast six years, he has been a volunteer at the museum, where he essentially functionsas the librarian. Residing in Worcester, Massachusetts, he spends considerable timefishing the trout streams of Massachusetts and Connecticut as well as the salmonrivers of Québec and New Brunswick. Like other volunteers, he finds the museum tobe the closest thing to being on the water, just like Dick Finlay.

John Feldenzer has loved the game of baseball for as long as he can remember.Like Bobby Doerr, he was a second baseman. He played from the Little League levelthrough four years at NCAA Division III Middlebury College (1974–1977). An avidfly fisher and bibliophile, he enjoys exploring fly-fishing history, especially the studyand collecting of bamboo fly rods. He pursues wild trout on mountain streams andtailwaters of the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies and smallmouth bass on the JamesRiver. He is a life member of Trout Unlimited and member of the American Museumof Fly Fishing, the Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Museum Association, and the CatskillFly Fishing Center and Museum. Feldenzer became friends with Doerr whileresearching his Paul Young Bobby Doerr model bamboo fly rod. This friendshipenabled him to define the relationship between Doerr and Ted Williams, their loveof fly fishing, and the tackle they developed and used. Feldenzer is a practicing neu-rosurgeon in Roanoke, Virginia, where he lives with his wife, Karen, and childrenKristin, Andrew, and Luke. This is his first contribution to the fly-fishing literature.

Bruce Beckman

Erwin Markowitz

Washington Irving and the False Castby Gordon M. Wickstrom


The Grand Opening Committee, the Board of Trustees,and the staff at the American Museum of Fly Fishing

would like to thank the following individuals and businesses for contributing to our Grand Opening raffle.

We acknowledge them with great appreciation.

Stan BogdanBogdan reels

!Robert Cochrane

Custom-made leather reel case

!James Prosek

Original watercolor

The Orvis CompanyTwo-day fly-fishing school

!Hildene

Two tickets to Hildene’sGarden Party

!Peter Palmer

Handmade birdhouse

run Hexagraph ad from theWinter 2005 issue

MEMBERS AND FRIENDS of the American Museum ofFly Fishing:

On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the AmericanMuseum of Fly Fishing, I am extremely pleased to announcethat we have hired a new executive director, William C. BullockIII, who began his duties in August. Bill comes to us from aneighbor, the Orvis Company,* where he was eastern directorof endorsed programs and licensing manager. As you mightguess, he is a longtime fisherman and has a network of friendsand acquaintances throughout the fishing community. He alsohas a background in financial management (Merrill, Lynch &Co., Fleet Bank), conservation (State of Vermont Trout Un-limited council chair and a director of the Trout and SalmonFoundation, among others), and fund-raising.

Working with our very able staff, Bill will be responsible forall aspects of museum operations. Conveniently for us, he livesnearby in Arlington, Vermont, with his wife Bebe and theirthree children. We spent nearly eighteen months seeking thecorrect individual to take AMFF into the future, and we aredelighted that he is on board.

At the same time, the board wishes to most sincerely thankYoshi Akiyama, who has willingly and with great competence,

energy, and enthusiasm served as interim executive directorfor the past eighteen months. He has overseen the final con-struction and grand opening of our new museum complex. Hehas developed a truly professional and enthusiastic staff, and,amid all the changes, provided sound financial management.Yoshi will now return to his prior role of collection manager,which he relishes. He very much looks forward to workingwith Bill.

DAVID WALSHPRESIDENT, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

*The Orvis Company has been a longtime enthusiastic supporter of theAmerican Museum of Fly Fishing, and we are most grateful. However, theAmerican Museum of Fly Fishing is a totally independent organizationunaffiliated with Orvis.

From the President

Bill Bullock and the bright, 16-pound Atlantic salmon he caughtin June on the Kedgwick River, New Brunswick, Canada.

Edgar Bechard

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF FLY FISHING,a nationally accredited, nonprofit, education-al institution dedicated to preserving the richheritage of fly fishing, was founded inManchester, Vermont, in 1968. The Museumserves as a repository for, and conservator to,the world’s largest collection of angling andangling-related objects. The Museum’s col-lections and exhibits provide the public withthorough documentation of the evolution offly fishing as a sport, art form, craft, and in-dustry in the United States and abroad fromthe sixteenth century to the present. Rods,reels, and flies, as well as tackle, art, books,manuscripts, and photographs form the ma-jor components of the Museum’s collections.

The Museum has gained recognition as aunique educational institution. It supports apublications program through which its na-tional quarterly journal, The American FlyFisher, and books, art prints, and catalogs areregularly offered to the public. The Museum’straveling exhibits program has made it possi-ble for educational exhibits to be viewedacross the United States and abroad. TheMuseum also provides in-house exhibits,related interpretive programming, andresearch services for members, visiting schol-ars, authors, and students.

The Museum is an active, member-orient-ed nonprofit institution. For informationplease contact: The American Museum of FlyFishing, P. O. Box 42, Manchester, Vermont05254, 802-362-3300.

Documents

TheAmerican Fly Fisher - AMFF